The Bet
by fangirl1982
Summary: Jack finds out Dan's started a bet on him, and enlists Gabrielle's help to get even
1. Chapter 1

Title: **The Bet **Jack/Gabrielle.

Rating: **M**. M/M rape references, please do not read if you find this subject sensitive.

Disclaimer: Of course I don't freaking own anything. If I did, I'd be writing scripts, not fanfiction.

_June 2006_

Gabrielle Jaeger had taken the time to learn all about her new colleagues in the All Saints Emergency Department – who was professional, who was a pain, who was likely to hit on every woman in sight.

At the top of that list was Doctor Jack Quade, a man who had been in relationship with her two most recent female predecessors and, rumour had it, slept with half the hospital's female population between twenty and forty. It was also said he routinely got into fights over the women in his life, like he was in high school. She hadn't even had to ask about that; a dozen people had warned her.

She considered herself warned. No way was she letting an arrogant shirt-chaser make her his latest conquest.

She could certainly see Jack's appeal as soon as she met him. He was a very attractive man, and there was confidence in the way he moved – confidence in himself as a surgeon, confidence in himself as a lover. He looked like he'd have no trouble picking up and he knew it. Oddly enough, she got nothing out of Cate McMasters and Erica Templeton, two of her ED nurses, who had never been involved with him. Of course, the most obvious source of Jack-related gossip would be his housemate, Dan Goldman, but Gabrielle had no idea how to approach Dan without making it seem like she was interested in Jack. Which, of course, she was not.

Jack took to her easy enough. He was fundamentally a friendly guy, if very guarded. His last relationship – with Deanna Richardson – had burned him more than he cared to admit to anyone, and there was no way in hell he was getting involved with someone from the hospital again, especially not the ED's NUM. It was too complicated a relationship.

Gabrielle kept waiting for Jack to make his move, always on guard with him. If Jack's reputation was even half true, then he'd be taking the first opportunity he could to get into her pants.

Things went well for all of two days. She was walking towards her office, completely engrossed in the mess of rosters that Dan had left for her, and not realized that Jack was calling her until she felt his hand on her upper arm, his fingers curling around her bicep. Firm without being aggressive. At least, that was Jack's intention; it wasn't in his nature to be physically forceful with people, definitely not with people smaller than him.

But Gabrielle took it badly. She took it as him grabbing his opportunity to touch her, and she wrenched her arm away violently. "Don't touch me!" she snapped at him, and bolted into her office, slamming the door shut behind her, leaving a stunned Jack, who had just wanted to extend an invitation to Cougars with him, Dan, Ricki and Cate.

Later that day, figuring she'd have calmed down from whatever had been bothering her, Jack knocked on the door and let himself in when she invited him – not knowing it was him, of course. "Leave the door open," she said when she realized. No way was she giving him the opportunity to be alone with her with the door closed. She knew his reputation.

"Ah, look, I just wanted to apologize if I got in your space before," he said. "I just wanted to invite you to Cougars and I called you and you didn't answer and –"

"It it usual for you to ask nurses out within days of starting?" Gabrielle asked in a cool, professional tone.

He looked taken aback. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

"I know your reputation, Jack, and I'm curious if it's usual for you to ask nurses out almost as soon as they start? You know, get in before everyone else."

Jack's half-smile faded into something more like a frown. "I don't know, why don't you ask Ricki or Cate?" he said, figuring if she'd done her homework she wouldn't have found anyone on this ward who could claim to have slept with him – or even that he'd come onto. Deanna had been an aberration, and besides, _she_ had come onto _him_. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to come out with us and Dan and we figured it would come better from me 'cos you're not my boss."

She wondered if he was telling the truth. He did seem kind of pally with the three of them, but then, he could just be using that as a cover. "You're not my boss, either," she snapped.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked, puzzled over her shortness. It was just a drink with a group, why was she getting so defensive?

"Look, I don't know what you have in mind, but I'm not some silly nurse who'll jump into your bed at the offer of a drink. You touch me again and I'll have you up on sexual harassment charges so fast your head will spin."

He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned deeper. "You think _that's_ why I asked you out?" he asked. "Christ, if I wanted to get laid, there are plenty more attractive women than you in this hospital. We'll be at Cougars at eight if you want to come.

--

"Like I'd go out withher anyway, she's plain and dumpy," Jack said later to an amused audience of Dan, Cate, Ricki and Charlotte. "Or date anyone in his hospital again. Too complicated." He was venting, but even so, he couldn't bring himself to admit just how offended he'd been by Gabrielle's words. Sexual harassment? Like he had to bother sexually harassing anyone. Besides, he had been the victim of bullies enough times to ever do it to someone else. Christ, even if he _had_ been interested in going out with her, he wouldn't have pushed it like she seemed to think he was capable of doing.

"Famous last words," Dan said with a smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked.

"Didn't you say something to that effect after Terri?" Dan asked.

"Maybe… but that was different. This time I really _do_ have no interest in being with someone from the hospital. I'm sick of being jerked around and being the centre of gossip." He eyed Dan suspiciously. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"Nope."

Jack glowered. He knew he had to own this Deanna thing, but bloody hell, he was getting tired of people thinking of him as promiscuous and unscrupulous when it came to sex. He really did want a relationship with someone he cared about… without the constant gossip that went with dating someone from work.


	2. Chapter 2

"What would you do for five grand?"

Gabrielle was, needless to say, surprised when Jack asked her that question. He'd waited until she was alone to ask her, which was odd in itself; Jack usually made a concerted effort not to be seen alone with any of his female colleagues. She had to respect him for going out of his way not to give the gossips an opportunity to start circling. In fact, she had to respect him for the effort he'd made in the last few months to get his act together. For reasons unknown to her – to most people – he'd fallen apart over his mate's death and found solace in alcohol and women. But now, for all appearance at least, he seemed to be working hard, cutting back on the drinking and showing no interest in getting involved with anyone – despite the fact that, being a good-looking young surgeon, he had women throwing themselves at him. It really was mildly amusing watching them at Cougars.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, returning to his question. Five grand did sound awfully tempting, but she didn't like the sound of 'what would you do for it?'

"What would you do for five grand?" he repeated.

"Yeah, I heard that. I don't get it."

Jack frowned. "I found out Dan had a bet going on me – actually, he's had it going for nearly two years – on who I'd get involved with who I was interested enough in to have a proper relationship with." He frowned deeper. "The gist of it is it's twenty dollars a bet and it gets paid out to whoever bet on the right women. He raised ten grand, including the recent couple of bets."

Jack was going too fast for her. "Dan has a bet going on you?"

"Yes"

"And he managed to find five hundred people who were dumb enough to put money down?"

"Not exactly – a lot of people bet again recently, lots of new blood and all that." He was referring to the new female staff that had started working since Dan had started the bet. Whatever interest may have been lost in Jack not getting into a relationship had been fired up again by his recent promiscuity. That explained why so many women seemed to b coming onto him – Gabrielle wondered if anyone had bet on themselves. She wouldn't put it past some of the nursing staff. A good-looking surgeon boyfriend was a great catch, and ten thousand dollars wasn't exactly nothing.

So Dan had thought it was funny to arrange bets on Jack's notorious promiscuity and lack of committed relationships. Enough people had thought it was funny to raise ten thousand dollars, and enough women had believed in their ability to nab him to make his life a bit awkward. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Dan shut down new bets after it hit ten grand and added a caveat that if I hook up with someone who's not on the list, _she_ gets the money."

"And?" Gabrielle asked impatiently. Jack watched her expectantly as his meaning sank in. No-one had bet on her. "You mean… _no-one_?" she asked incredulously. "Five hundred bets and _no-one_?"

"Well, you didn't exactly help matters by calling me very publicly on the fact you had no interest in me whatsoever," he retorted.

"Because you're calling me plain and dumpy made everything think you were hot for me," Gabrielle shot back, a touch of bitterness creeping into her voice. Even though she knew Jack had been venting, it hurt to be called plain and dumpy – especially since Steve had always had a wandering eye for gorgeous women who made Gabrielle feel, well, plain and dumpy.

Jack had the decency to look embarrassed. "I was just venting," he said. "I didn't mean it. If I recall, you informed me that if I touched you again you'd have me up so sexual harassment charges. Excuse me if I was a bit defensive."

She smiled at the memory. "I did take it a bit far, didn't I?" she asked.

"I guess I deserved it a bit. Didn't have the best reputation about women. Still don't."

There was something in his voice that made her pause for a second. He sounded… sad. In the last few months they had become friends after a fashion – after she had come to realize he was very serious about not getting involved with her or anyone from work, and they had spent time hanging out together. Nothing much – drinks at Cougars while waiting for others to arrive, lunch together if their breaks coincided. She wouldn't consider herself to be as close to him as he was with Charlotte or Dan – but then, closer than others. She was beginning to know an intelligent, caring man who'd had some unlucky breaks.

"It would help if you didn't drive my staff to quit," she teased him.

"Not your staff," he said. "I remember thinking at the time that it didn't count as a colleague 'cos Rachel wasn't employed by the hospital, per se."

Gabrielle snorted derisively. "You are so full of shit."

"Yeah, you should hear some of the other justifications I came up with. I think I convinced myself that it wasn't technically finishing an entire bottle of bourbon if it had already been opened and a few shots taken from it."

She nearly choked at that. "I'm sorry, you'd go through a bottle in a night?"

"I just said it wasn't a bottle!" he said indignantly "For what it's worth, I haven't had more than ten standard drinks a week since I came back."

There was a quiet dignity about the way he said that which made Gabriel realize… well, he'd been trying hard to prove himself. It took guts to admit you'd made mistakes and try to redeem yourself. He was certainly displaying more dignity than Steve had.

Come to think of it… she'd never seen him with anyone since he'd come back to the hospital, never heard of whisper of a date or one-night stand with anyone, despite the jokes about his promiscuity and poor taste in women that constantly circled him. As she got to know him, she realized he was actually quite sensitive, and realizing Dan was still acting like he was a skirt-chaser out to get laid must hurt. From anyone else he would have paid it, but Dan – Gabrielle realized it would have sucked if her best friend had undermined her efforts like that. Not to mention some of the women in this hospital were pretty bloody-minded about the holy grail of the surgeon boyfriend – it must have been pretty tempting for Jack at times, and it spoke volumes about him that he hadn't been interested. He really did want to get his lift back on track.

"How did you find out about this?" she asked.

"Dan's a bloody cheapskate when it comes to buying condoms and keeps stealing mine, so I was stealing them back. In my searching I came across it."

"And you go through your best mate's things?" she asked.

"I do when it's got my name on it," he said indignantly.

"And… do you have a copy?" she asked. She had to admit, she was curious.

He fished in his bag and handed her a few sheets of paper, photocopied and stapled together. "Thought you might want to check it out," he said. "I've written my number on the bottom."

She took the papers and thanked him dumbly before he said goodbye and walked off. She didn't know how exactly she'd gotten into this, only that she was now standing outside the hospital with a bunch of papers in her hand, casually contemplating a fake relationship with the hospital's biggest joke when it came to women.

Later that evening, she went through the list, getting more interested and more indignant with each passing name. Some of them made sense –his palliness with Cate when she was working on the ward – not to mention she was a cute, bubbly blond – also made an obvious candidate. Cate's friend Jo was enough of a sexual predator to have put her in the running, and every ward had at least one drop-dead gorgeous doctor who had either put her name down or had it put down.

She could have accepted that when it came to the most obvious choices, the gorgeous women, the women known for their sexual appetites were always going to rate better than someone like Gabrielle – smart, dependable, kind of plain, not particularly exciting. But what made her gasp when realizing that _eight_ different people had bet on Bianca Frost. Bianca Frost! The two of them never had anything nice to say about each other – and said it both to each other and anyone who would listen. Did the fact she was gorgeous and known for being a bit loose sexually completely negate the fact that he hated her?

And what hurt the most was that _Steve_ had bet on her. Hell, Steve had probably slept with her – he had a thing for gorgeous brunettes. It stung deeply that Steve would place so much importance on good looks and apparently none on things like loyalty and mate ship and a fun personality…

She felt her throat catch, and she struggled not to cry. The realization that even _Steve_ didn't think she had any chance of landing someone like Jack – she swallowed hard, determined not to cry. Even in the privacy of her own home, she wouldn't give Steve – or the rest of the hospital who didn't think she belonged in a class of gorgeous, sexy women – the satisfaction of crying.

She would do it, she decided. The five grand would be nice, but she'd get to stick it to everyone who bet on someone other than her. She could show them all how superficial they were for thinking someone like her could never land someone like Jack.

Of course, it wouldn't be real. But it would be real enough for her to get satisfaction out of sticking it to all those people.

She wasn't really thinking much beyond that. In her hurt, she only thought that it would be nice to stick it to such shallow, vacuous people. Dan Goldman and Steve Taylor being at the top of the list.

--

Dan checked the answering machine on the house phone when he got in a few days later. A call from Rebecca – Christ, that girl was hot, but he hadn't dared risk Jack's wrath over it, even before he and Ricki got together. A call from his mother. He was surprised there was a missed called from Gabrielle – Gabrielle, not the ED – but no message. He decided to call her back; occasionally Gabby used her mobile to try and rustle up staff, which was how he recognized the number.

"Ah, um, sorry, Dan, I was looking for staff when Abigail called in sick but I got an agency nurse to cover her," Gabrielle explained quickly when Dan asked what the call had been about – too quickly, in Dan's opinion. If she'd wanted an extra nurse, why hadn't she left a message saying so? It was odd, but he didn't care. If Gabby had found another nurse it would mean she wouldn't be pulling out the stops – everything from bribery to wheedling to guilt-tripping – it get him to come in, and he'd been looking forward to a quiet night in. He and Jack hadn't had a night in to just play poker and watch DVDs for ages.

Not since he and Ricki had gotten together – which coincided with his contracting Hep C. He was beginning to miss that mateship, and realizing that he sometimes treated Jack shabbily. It had been one thing when Jack was spending all his free time getting drunk and getting laid, but now that he was seriously committed to getting his life back on track, Dan was remembering the fun they'd had being mates – and regretting letting his relationships with Bianca and Ricki come between that.

For some reason, he thought about the bet he'd had going on who would be the next to land Jack as a boyfriend. It had started with a joke before he'd moved in, but it had turned out there'd been plenty of people out there who thought Jack was an absolute joke when it came to things like relationships and fidelity, and plenty of women who wanted to be the one to prove the joke wrong. He had shut it down himself when the jackpot hit ten thousand dollars, citing it as an impressive jackpot, but secretly feeling a little guilty for playing on Jack's reputation like that. After all, he knew better than most the demons that drove Jack to prove himself sexually.

He hung up the phone and forgot about both Gabrielle and the bet and played a few rounds of playstation until Jack came home. Like Dan, the first thing he did was check the messages on the phone. He called Rebecca and they chatted briefly, Dan overheard something about plans for dinner. Then he did something really strange. He went through the missed calls and used the home phone to call someone.

"Hey, it's me," he said. "You called?"

"You should have heard Dan trying to make sense of the fact I was looking for staff but hadn't left a message saying so. I could practically _hear_ his brain ticking over."

The last thing Dan heard was Jack laughing as he headed to his room. Jack, laugh? Calls in his room? That was really odd.

"I told you it would work," he said. "I reckon he's in the lounge room right now, pretending to play games, trying to work out who I'm calling and why."

The image had Gabrielle chuckling. Dan was a compulsive gossip – sometimes she didn't understand how someone as guarded as Jack managed to live with him. Of course, she didn't realize that Dan could keep a secret when it was important – could only envision the nurse straining his ears in desperation to overhear the conversation. "Whatcha doing?" Jack asked casually.

"Watching a TV show you probably haven't heard of and pretending to do the rosters," Gabrielle said.

"What show?" Jack asked.

"You know the guy who created _Buffy_?" Gabrielle asked, pretty sure Jack wouldn't have heard of the show.

"You mean _Firefly_?" Jack asked.

"I didn't realize anyone but me had heard of it," Gabrielle mused.

Jack laughed. "I've always been a bit of a fantasy buff. My childhood wasn't great and it was good escapism."

"_Serenity_ wasn't as good," she said.

"I have never been so disappointed in a movie," Jack agreed. "I don't see how they screwed it up so badly seeing's the had the same everything from the show."

"Are you – I mean, do you have any plans for tonight?" Gabrielle asked, surprised at how tentative her voice was. It wasn't like she was asking him out – just two friends who were putting on a display of togetherness watching a TV show together.

"I have a hot date with a bunch of medical journals," he said."There's a lot of interesting stuff but nothing I can't read in my lunch break."

"You want to come over and watch _Firefly_ with me? These rosters are giving me a headache, anyway. I don't know how Dan and that other woman ever managed to do it well."

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh, Frank's always riding Zoe and I because we don't do rosters the way he likes them. Apparently Dan was really good at it, and so was this woman with a guy's name. Wait, what's so funny?"

Jack was chuckling. "Terri Sullivan?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's her. Christ, the way Frank talks about her, she was a saint. Terri, the story goes, reigned with perfect harmony."

Jack was laughing now. "For what it's worth, Terri was a nun before I met her. She was also my girlfriend for a while."

The realization quickly sank in. It had been _Jack_ who'd been doing the rosters for Dan and Terri. "I don't suppose you want to…?" she began hopefully.

"Ask me tomorrow at work. Right now, I'm in the mood for watching _Firefly_ and not worrying about admin crap."

"Suits me. Come over whenever you want." They spoke for another few minutes, Gabrielle gave Jack her address – it turned out they lived quite close to each other, Dan and Gabrielle having had the same idea, to get a place close to the hospital – and Jack got his stuff together to leave.

"Where are you going?" Dan asked when he saw Jack leave.

"Out with friends," he said evasively. Dan wondered if that meant out with a woman.

"Who was on the phone?"

"Just a mate."

"You want to elaborate on that?"

Jack turned to face Dan, arms crossed over his chest, bullheaded expression on his face. Dan had seen that expression and pose before. Jack was a private man and they still had teething problems when Dan overstepped his boundaries. "Do I interrogate you whenever you go out with Ricki?" he asked, with just the right among of defensiveness to arouse Dan's suspicions. After all, whenever he went out with Ricki, he _told_ Jack he was going out with Ricki.

When Jack left, Dan wondered if this mysterious friend he was going out with was the same mysterious friend he'd just been laughing over the phone with. Just as Jack had intended.

--

"So, you have to have a motive for doing this, other than the money?" Jack asked a few hours and a few glasses of wine later. "Five grand is really not a lot for a three-month commitment."

Gabrielle shrugged. "It seems childish when I say it out loud."

Jack laughed. She had a knack for making him laugh. "C'mon, _I'm_ doing it to stick it to Dan," he said. "It can't be much more childish than that."

"Honestly? It hurt that no-one bet on me. I mean, I know there are far more gorgeous women working at All Saints than me, I know there are women you're pallier with than me, but it hurt that people were willing to place money on some stunner in pediatrics who you probably haven't spoken more than ten words to, over me. It hurt when _Steve_ figured you'd end up with a knockout like Bianca before me."

Jack made a face. The idea of him spending any more time with Bianca Frost than was absolutely necessary, let alone being intimate with her, made her shudder. "There aren't enough four-letter words available to describe what I think of her," he said. "Besides, I wouldn't trust her to be faithful, and that's something that's important to me."

Gabrielle couldn't help but laugh at that. Jack looked hurt. "I'm sorry but… well, you're not exactly a shining example of fidelity."

"I haven't been in a relationship in a while in order to cheat," he corrected her softly. "I know I've been promiscuous in the past, but when I'm in a relationship, fidelity's important to me. The closest I've come to cheating… well, I'm sure you know the story about Charlotte and I by now."

Gabrielle took a sip of wine. "I practically had people knocking down my door to warn me about you, and that was the top of their list." She paused for a second, thinking. "What actually happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

It had been the first time someone had been genuinely interested in the events that had led up to Charlotte's tragic miscarriage, and Jack found that it was an interest he'd always craved. "Looking back, Terri and I weren't all that compatible. I mean, we were, but she just had so many hang-ups – about my age, about sex, about her husband. Late husband," he corrected. "She really couldn't take the talk about us and our breakup really got dragged out. I was so in love with her, would have married her, would have adopted Lucy if she'd let me… anyway, I was pretty gutted when she dumped me, and Charlotte's girlfriend had left her the same day, so getting thoroughly drunk together seemed like a good idea… you know, I've always been a bit hung up on proving myself sexually, and I remember having this moment of clarity where I thought I had to make it a fantastic experience for Charlotte because it would say volumes about me if she went back to women after it."

Gabrielle laughed. It was pleasant that Jack could confide these little insecurities in her, and it was something she knew only too well. Hadn't she often wondered if she was a complete dud in bed that she drove Steve to other women? "Whenever Charlotte talks about Vincent, I'm dying of curiosity to know what drove her to women. Hell, come to think of it, it must've driven Vincent batty that you could set her straight – so to speak – and he couldn't."

"OK, you promise you won't bring this up with Charlotte?" Gabrielle nodded. "It's just that I know she was sensitive about Sean blabbing things she'd told him to Zoe, and I never want her to feel that way about us."

Gabrielle shivered slightly, and she didn't know why. Maybe it was the way Jack said 'us'; even thought they weren't a real couple, as far as everyone else was concerned they were, and that meant changing the dynamic of Jack and Charlotte's close friendship – or at least Charlotte _thinking_ it was being changed. "For what it's worth, the issues she had with Sean and Zoe were that she and Zoe just don't get along. I think she'd be more accepting of us."

Jack nodded. "True," he said. "Anyway, Charlotte's only slept with three men and she and Vincent were really young when they married. I don't think it's a good idea to get married that young, I don't think you have the maturity for that kind of intimacy. I think Charlotte was always bisexual and after a while she started looking for that missing intimacy and found it in a woman. I think all I did was give her that intimacy and on some level that made her realize she'd never stopped being attracted to men. And I think Vincent never understood that, I think he saw it as 

this huge betrayal that I could get her over that mindset that she wasn't attracted to men and he couldn't. I think he saw it as an attack n his masculinity when it wasn't, it was just that they weren't in a time and place where they could develop a proper intimacy."

Gabrielle stared at him. It was the longest Jack had ever spoken – and the most insightful thing she'd heard in a while. "You really get her, don't you?"

Jack shrugged. "We created a child together. I don't think people really understand what kind of bond that forges. Over three months we went from being in a best-friend-and-boyfriend-of relationship to future parents and then through the grieving process… honestly, I think the most intimate moments I've ever had with a woman – hell, with anyone – is when she'd become hysterical with grief and I'd hold her for hours… it was so hard to go through but there was also this incredible security in having someone there with you, to share your pain so intimately."

For a few seconds, Gabrielle didn't know what to say. She knew Jack was a little tipsy, that's why he was saying these things, but still… over a few hours she felt like she'd learnt so much more about him. He was fundamentally lonely and he let that manifest in destructive ways. The next three months could prove very interesting, if they were forced to spent time together to keep up appearances – and, having been forced to spent time with each other, he opened up more like this.

She decided to take advantage of the fact he was opening up "So… out of curiosity, how many women have there been? Is your reputation really as bad as people say?"

Jack laughed. "There's a real irony in the fact that it is, but not for the reason gossip says. I tend to use booze and sex as a coping mechanism and there have been a lot of women in the last two and a half years… but not from the hospital. I was pretty discreet about that. I know it looks bad because of Rachel and Mercedes but they really were the only two that anyone knows about."

"You didn't answer the question… how many?"

"Since Charlotte miscarried… seventy-eight. All up… two hundred and six."

Gabrielle started coughing and she swallowed quickly. "I'm sorry.. you're _how_ old?"

"Twenty-seven. I ran amok quite a bit in uni. I was sixteen and emancipated and determined to forget about a lot of nasty elements in my home life." He smiled ruefully. "My counselor reckons I've spent eleven years using sex to overcome my self of self-worth." He had no idea why he was telling Gabrielle this, except she was easy to talk to and didn't judge him.

"Like what?" she asked, fascinated.

He leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes. "I reckon you're loving this, getting me to open up."

She grinned. "A little. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. But… I like to think we're mates and you can talk to me if you want to and I won't betray that confidence."

He thought for a second about Patrick Wesley. _You liked that, didn't you? Faggot. You've been begging for it for months_. He was only now beginning to realize just how long it had haunted him, the notion that maybe Patrick had been right, maybe he'd asked for it, maybe he was secretly gay. God knew, he'd seduced enough women to prove himself otherwise.

But he wasn't about to tell Gabrielle that. Still, a few other confidences wouldn't hurt – it did help to talk to people, at least people he thought would understand. "Both my parents were fairly promiscuous. My mum, from what I knew of her, slept with any man who'd support her financially and my dad screwed around on his wife – my stepmother Stella – like it was going out of style. To Stella, I represented her husband's infidelity. Not that mum was the only women, just the only women he'd been misfortunate enough to knock up – at least as far as he knows," he added ruefully. The fact was, a man like Ned Quade could never be sure just how many illegitimate offspring he had, something which kind of freaked Jack out – he could have a dozens siblings running around and not know it. He was glad he'd almost always used condoms; he could be pretty secure in the knowledge that the only child he'd ever fathered had been Charlotte's. "I grew up hearing from Stella variations on my mother was a slut and I'd inherited that from her. I think I always had this idea that it _wasn't_ being promiscuous if I wasn't being unfaithful or if I made women really enjoy it – for years I fixated on being great in bed because I was convinced it wasn't being slutty if it was a mutually great experience."

"Jack…" Gabrielle was at a loss for what to say. She had learnt more about Jack in the last few hours than she had in the last two years.

"Don't do that, Gabby. You know if I was a girl I'd have a reputation as being easy."

Gabrielle smirked. "Your rep isn't that far off," she said, and Jack looked pained. "Look, for what it's worth… _I_ know you're trying pretty hard, and I think people are starting to realize that. You know, when I first got here and heard about your reputation, I couldn't actually find anyone you'd slept with to conform it – well, apart from Charlotte. You don't… you don't deserve the reputation you've got and I think it's really cool that you're making the effort to get beyond that."

He smiled. "I appreciate that," he said. "It's nice to know someone understands. I guess that's what gets me about Dan… he ought to know and he doesn't. He should know better than anyone my reasons for doing the stuff I've done and how hard I'm trying to make things right, and he still goes and does this stupid bet… I feel like I'm not being taken seriously."

"Just give it time." She found herself hugging him, and from there ending up cuddled in his arms. He knew how to hold a woman. Idly she wondered what he'd be like with kids. There was something warm and affectionate about being in his arms. "You're really cut," she commented.

"I'm what?"

"Well built. I can feel it in your arms and chest." For his build – tall and slim – he was really muscular. She could feel the strength of his body through his shirt.

Jack shrugged. "I like knowing I can hold my own." He'd always hated himself just a little bit for not being strong enough to fight off attacks from either Stella or Patrick Wesley. He'd been a kid, but he still took some measure of comfort from knowing he could more than hold his own in a fight against most people.

"Against what?"

"I don't know… I just like the abstract idea of being able to defend myself… and before you say anything, those rumours about punchups with one of your predecessors are largely exaggerated."

She laughed. "That was the second thing I gold told about you. I take it you didn't really break the guy's nose?"

"No." Jack could afford to laugh now; it was so long ago. "The first time was over Terri – Nelson had feelings for her, and _he_ hit _me_. The second time was just words over my girlfriend at the time who was kind of screwing everyone over."

"Deanna Richardson, third thing I got told about you."

"You seem to have quite the advantage over me. There's enough gossip about me floating around to fill a phone book but nothing about you… well, except the fact you and Steve go way back."

"What do you want to know?"

Jack was stumped. "Nothing specific, I guess. I prefer not to get to know people through gossip and innuendo."

"That's kind of admirable. Besides, there's nothing much interesting in my life. I'm twenty-five, I've only been in one real relationship in my life, I'm on good terms with my family, I've paid off a fair chunk of my house with my inheritance."

"What made you become a nurse?"

"My family's a pretty traditional farming family – the boys inherit, the girls studying teaching or nursing. My sister and I were lucky because our dad decided to downside the farm and split the sale profits between us, so at gave us both a nice inheritance – enough that it made a dent in my mortgage. She blew it on a massive wedding."

Jack whistled softly. "Wedding or mortgage, tough choice."

Gabrielle squirmed in Jack's arms. It felt strange to have a woman in his arms, although pleasantly so. "Bree's two years younger than me, and one of those gorgeous, superficial types. It was kind of hard growing up with her – boys my age would come over and notice her and that was the end of it for me."

Impulsively he kissed the top of her head. "The more I know about you the more I think you've had the most terrible luck with relationships."

"That's easy to be glib about when you look like you do. You can't say you have a problem lining up dates."

"No… but do you know how many vacuous women there are out there who thing dating a good-looking surgeon is the holy grail of dating? I've gone out with so many women who I just have nothing in common with and pursued me for ages afterwards for a second date. I don't get why you'd want to go out with someone again that you've established you have nothing on common with and I know it's because of the surgeon thing. Can't remember the last time I dated someone who I felt wanted me for myself."

"What about Rachel?"

Jack laughed bitterly. "There's a kicker. She really did like me, wanted a relationship with me, wanted to be there for me… and I blew it 'cos all I could think about was getting laid."

It was something Gabrielle had been dying to ask for some time, and they'd had enough to drink and he'd revealed enough of himself that she thought she could at least ask. "Why did you do it? I mean, if you just wanted to get laid, pretty much _anyone_ else would have been less complicated than someone you worked with who had a crush on you."

He thought momentarily of Travis and pain so gut-wrenching he could physically feel it wrack his body. Initially, he hadn't wanted anything to do with the younger man, but as the weeks had passed, he had found solidarity in Travis – the man had understood what he had gone through, what Patrick had done to him.

It chilled Jack to realize that Travis had never had a girlfriend, never been intimate with a woman. Of course, that hadn't meant he'd died a virgin – and how exactly did Jack go about explaining _that_. "Travis meant a lot to me and I took his death badly," he explained cautiously. "I was lonely and Rachel was there. Maybe I shouldn't have done it, but I didn't promise her anything, I didn't get her drunk I didn't rape her. I didn't make her do anything she didn't want to and I didn't lead her to believe something would come from it."

"Then why…?"

"I couldn't stop crying. I mean, I was crying while we were doing it and blathered a lot about being lonely and I guess she figured I was after a relationship. I made a mistake and I hurt her and I feel terrible for that."

"I know." And she did know. She had known it before tonight but getting to spend this time with him made her realize just _how_ terrible he felt. "You ever speak to her?"

"She still temps at All Saints, mostly in oncology. I ran into her one day and she made it pretty bloody clear that she wanted nothing to do with me. Guess I deserve it."

As fascinating as it was to learn more about Jack, Gabrielle was getting bored with all the talk about mistakes and regrets – on both sides. So she switched the conversation to _Firefly_, and enjoyed herself.

The hours passed but they barely noticed the time until Gabrielle realized just how tired she was. "I should get going, I shouldn't have kept you up," he said apologetically.

"It's fine, I had fun," she said. "And I know how much you've had to drink, you can't drive home. I have a spare room you can crash in."

Jack made a face. "If that was Steve's room, I'd rather take the couch."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "The couch is lumpy and Steve never slept there. He slept with me." And with that she went off to get fresh sheets for the spare bed.

She didn't hear Jack say under his breath "Lucky Steve."


	3. Chapter 3

"So, he's talking to someone for a good ten minutes, sounds like he's having a great time – I mean, seriously, when was the last time anyone heard Jack laugh – then he walks out and won't tell me where he's going. _And_ he was out the whole night."

"I think you're still spending too much time poking your nose in Jack's business," Charlotte said, almost as intrigued by this mystery night out as Dan's was.

Dan shrugged. Maybe he did spend an awful lot of time poking about Jack's business, but who could blame him? The guy _never_ talked about his private life, not even when it was painfully obvious that his private life consisted of boozing it up and sleeping around to try and annihilate memories that couldn't be annihilated.

He hadn't made the connection between Gabrielle's slightly odd call and Jack's new friend yet, only that, bloody hell, this not knowing was annoying the crap out of him.

--

Jack knocked lightly on the door of the office Gabrielle, Zoe and Frank shared. She looked up and the from she was wearing almost disappeared from her face. "Hey," she said. "Get enough sleep?"

"More than you, by the looks of it." There was an awkward pause. "Uh, listen… I want to tell you something but I don't want you to take it like I'm hitting on you."

Gabrielle looked puzzled. "Shoot."

"I really enjoyed myself last night. More than I can remember in ages. I don't – I can't remember the last time I felt like someone liked me for myself."

There was something sincere in Jack's voice that touched Gabrielle. He was more sincere in his friendship then Steve had been as a boyfriend. There was something sad and also nice about that. "That's sweet," she said.

"You doing those rosters?"

"Trying to." She gnawed at a chicken ficaccia and rubbed the back of her neck, Trying to balance the rosters always gave her neck aches.

Jack didn't fail to notice. "If I help you, will you eat your lunch somewhere other than this office? In fact, somewhere other than this ward?"

She smiled. She wondered if he treated all women this way or he was just making an effort with her, given this plan of theirs. "Promise."

He pulled up a chair next to her, deliberately sitting to her right so his left hand was closest to her and his right – writing – hand furtherest away. He touched the back of her neck lightly with his fingers. "Do you mind?" he asked softly.

The feel of his fingers against her skin felt good. She told herself it was just Jack being a doctor and knowing all about the healing nature of touch, as opposed to anything remotely sensual. "Please," she said, and wondered if her voice had too much of a begging tone to it. "_Ouch!_" she cried out when Jack dug his fingers in.

"Not my fault you're so tense," he said. "Try and relax and it should feel better soon."

So she tried to relax, and he was right, it did feel better soon. Or maybe it just helped that Jack had a great deal of insight into people. "Why do you keep Dan and Ricki separate?" he asked. Gabrielle didn't know; she hadn't ever thought about it. "I bet he keeps calling in sick, blaming the Hep C?" he asked. Gabrielle nodded. "If I had a chronic illness and a girlfriend I never saw, I'd be milking it for all it was worth, too. And here – you've got Clare Miller with Abigail Ferguson."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Abigail's completely dominating. You or Von work with her fine but Clare gets completely steamrolled. I watch her sometimes and I can see she's not happy. I bet you can never get her to stay back, yeah? Mentor her to you or Ricki, I bet she'll be a lot happier and a lot more willing to work extra."

"I can't believe I didn't think of this."

"I have a knack for understanding how people tick. I like to… understand situations."

"Wish I had that knack. Make life a lot easier." She took a violent bite of chicken ficaccia, despite having promised Jack she'd eat it somewhere other than the ED.

"You're life's fine, and you promised you wouldn't eat that here." He took the ficaccia out of her hand and placed it on the desk. His hand was still on the back of her neck and he leaned forward so he could grab a tissue off her desk. He wiped the crumbs off her mouth and she found there was something sweet and intimate about such a banal action.

Just then, Zoe walked in and needless to say, looked surprise to see Jack and Gabrielle looking so intimate."I was, uh, just helping her with the rosters," he said. He turned to Gabrielle. "That should just about to it – keep in mind what I said and it should make things a lot easier." He walked out, leaving Zoe to stare at Gabrielle. Then, thinking better of it, she left too, leaving Gabrielle to finish the rosters.

"Charlotte," she asked her colleague after a few moments thought, "you think I could get Jack to do _my_ rosters, or he's too busy being pally with Gabrielle?"

Charlotte coughed at this. "Since when were Jack and Gabby so pally?"

Zoe shrugged. "No idea. But he was helping her out before – or at least, that's what he said – and they looked pretty friendly."

"No way."Charlotte still remembered the 'plain and dumpy' comment, although that had been some time ago. "She's not his type. And besides, he wouldn't get involved with someone he worked with again."

--

"So, how exactly are we going about this?" Gabrielle asked.

"What we need is someone people know as close to us and something of a blabbermouth… but not Dan, because I'd never in a million years trust Dan with something like this."

"I take it you have someone in mind, then?"

Jack laughed. "Damn straight."

--

A week later, an attractive young woman walked into the ED with the all the confidence that her youth, intelligence and good looks could muster. Most of the men stopped to check her out. "Who's the babe?" Bart asked.

"Hands off, unless you want Jack to break your nose," Dan said warningly.

"Why? Is she his girlfriend?"

"Worse. Sister."

Gabrielle smiled when she saw Rebecca. Jack had warned her that if things went well with the four of them – Jack, Gabrielle, Rebecca and her father – Rebecca would be in the ED within a few days to invite Gabrielle to her 21st birthday.

Rebecca had been after Jack to meet her father almost since they'd discovered each other through their mother, Carla, two and a half years ago. Jack didn't relish the idea; there was a small part of him that resented Rebecca's upbringing – their mother had loved her, raised her, her father had loved her, certainly hadn't beaten her. He didn't blame Rebecca for him getting the short end of the stick, but he wasn't all that keen on meeting her father.

It was this scheme which Jack prompted Jack to do it. Rebecca was enthusiastic and a blabbermouth, as well as a woman who adored her older brother and wanted him to be a huge part of her life – much bigger than he already was. _If_ Jack went to dinner with her and her father, _if_ it went well, _if_ Rebecca was under the impression that Gabrielle was the influence behind Jack's decision to finally meet the guy – she would be eager for Gabrielle to stay in Jack's life. Which would come in the way of an invitation to her birthday party.

Gabrielle had found it to be an enjoyable night, and Jack actually seemed to be relaxed. Rebecca herself was a lovely woman, the arrogance and enthusiasm of youth, but a lovely woman all the same. And her father was a nice enough man. Not to mention Jack was genuinely fond of his younger sister. Forget his recent promiscuity, you could tell a lot about a guy by the way he treated his female relatives.

Now, as he'd predicted, she was here, welcoming smile on her face. She figured Jack meant as much to her as she did to him that she was extending this kind of hospitality so soon, but he was banking on that. "Gabrielle," she said warmly, and one would think they'd been friends for years instead of having met a few days ago. "Thanks again for coming on Saturday. I can't tell you how hard it's been to get Jack out socially, let alone to meet my dad."

Gabrielle laughed dismissively. "I got dinner in a restaurant I couldn't otherwise afford, I wasn't exactly complaining," she said. "If I did you a favor that maybe it was just paying back karma."

Rebecca laughed. She had a good instinct about Gabrielle. She was intelligent and forthright and clearly fond of her brother, which was always a good thing. Even though Jack had denied there was anything between them but friendship, Rebecca didn't believe him. Maybe they hadn't gotten to that stage yet, maybe they had and he was lying about it, but either way, Rebecca decided Gabrielle was someone she wanted in Jack's life. If nothing else, she'd got him to meet her father.

"Listen, it's my 21st birthday party next Friday and I'm hoping that whatever you did to convince Jack to meet my dad, you can do again to get him to come to my party." She stretched out an invitation.

It was exactly how Jack had planned it. "I'll see if I can make it," she said. She was free, and so was Jack, but there was no reason to tell Rebecca that.

Gabrielle was aware of all staff eyes being on you and she struggled not to blush. Jack had told her this would happen but it was stranger to actually have it happened.

Rebecca gave a cheer smile. "Hope you can," she said. "I'll see you around." With a wave, she walked off, all male eyes on her.

"What the hell was _that_ about?" Charlotte asked the second after Rebecca was out of earshot.

"Jack mentioned she'd been on his case to meet her father for a while and he'd be more comfortable if someone he knew was there. Apparently getting him out socially is a minor miracle and she thinks I'm responsible. No biggie." She shrugged as if she thought it really was no biggie even though she knew it would get tongues wagging – it was what she was banking on.

"So what, he just asked you if you'd go to dinner with him?" Charlotte pressed.

"Not with him, with him and his sister and her father," Gabrielle said, realizing that sounded even more bizarre – and intimate. Going out with a guy was one thing, but meeting his family? "It's nothing."

"So that's why he asked _you_," Dan said. "Because it's nothing." And he went off to find Erica and tell her what had just happened.

"It really is –" Gabrielle started to say to Charlotte, but Charlotte cut her off.

"I really don't care what it's about," she said, lying, because she was dying to find out, but they deserved their privacy, regardless of what it was about. "What you and Jack want to do in your own time in none of anyone's business, whatever Dan might think."

Gabrielle turned away so Charlotte wouldn't see her blushing. It was weird to be talking about Jack like this. She knew people were _supposed_ to think they were seeing each other but to actually be spoken to like they were, to know Dan was off to spread the word about it – was little he knew – made her feel really weird. And not in an entirely unpleasant way.

She had to admit, Jack was fun to be around. He challenged her intellectually, made her feel at ease, made her feel appreciated. He'd barely touched her, and never in a remotely sexual way, but she'd occasionally wondered what it would feel like if he'd slide his hand just a little lower, nothing sleazy, just a little bit sensual…

"I have work to do," she mumbled, and walked off, leaving a bemused Charlotte in her wake.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for reading, guys! But No chapter five until I get me some feedback :p_

"Thanks for inviting me. I had a good time," Gabrielle said. And she _had_ had a good time – which surprised her, because she was several years older than most of Rebecca's friends and hadn't expected to connect with any of them. Mind you, she'd spent most of the night with Jack. They just seemed to… gravitate towards each other.

And with a few drinks he'd loosened up physically, and showed more affection than he had before. Part of Gabrielle knew it was the alcohol talking, but she couldn't help but enjoy it. And he was so respectful about it, even when he'd been drinking. If this was what he was like with his mates, she could only imagine what he was like with a girlfriend…

"I didn't invite you, Bec did," Jack pointed out.

Gabrielle grinned. "Well, thanks for introducing her to me… I had a good time."

He smiled. "Me too. More than I expected to."

They chatted casually in the car in the driveway for a few minutes. She'd offered to drive – Rebecca was _his_ sister, so he was entitled to drink, and she'd offered to be designated driver. Dan was going to blow his mind when he worked out how long they'd spent parked out the front. "Uh, Gabby, there's something I've been meaning to bring up."

There was a serious tone in his voice that she didn't like. So far, the night had been very enjoyable, a lot of light hand brushes, kisses on the cheek, hugs – and now he wanted to talk about serious stuff."What?" she asked guardedly.

"Look, if we're going to pull this off, we need to do a convincing act of a couple trying to keep their relationship a secret. So… we're going to have to get caught out behaving really oddly a few times… and kissing a few times," he added. "And… I need to know how you are at me being in your personal space like that before we bother… 'cos if you can't handle it, that's cool, but it's not going to work too well if we fake this in public."

"You're saying… you want to kiss me."

"To see how you handle it, yeah."

"What about how you handle it?" she asked.

"That could be an issue. Bloody hell, Gabby, I'm asking permission to kiss you so you don't get the wrong idea."

"OK," she said with surprising shyness.

"OK, what?"

"OK… you can kiss me."

Needless to say, it was an awkward situation. Jack had never been in a position before where he'd kissed a woman as some kind of weird rehearsal. Gabrielle was sitting across from him and he had to lean over and unbuckle her seatbelt to kiss her…

He was shocked by how good she felt. Maybe it was the way she automatically wrapped her arms around his neck. Maybe it was the murmuring sounds she was making. Maybe it was – bloody hell, kissing her was nice. He flicked his tongue into her mouth and found himself barred by her teeth. He applied a little more pressure and found her clamping down harder. He pushed down with his head and found her pulling away, him applying pressure, her backing off, until he had her wedged between him and the door and warning bells were going off in his head. Something was wrong. She wasn't getting into this kiss.

After a few more seconds, Gabrielle backed away. "Jack," she said breathlessly, because she was as taken aback by their chemistry as he was, "how good am I?"

"I'm sorry?"

"How good am I… as a kisser?"

The way he turned his head away slightly so their eyes were no longer meeting was reply enough for her. "I don't see why it matters," he said.

"For Christ sakes, Jack, tell the truth," Gabrielle demanded bluntly.

"OK, fine. You're blocking my tongue with your teeth and you keep pulling back from me… I've had to wedge you between my body and the door to make you stop pulling away… it feels like I'm trying to rape your mouth."

It was an overreaction and one Jack felt only because he bloody well knew what it was like to be raped. Anyone else would have found 'it feels like you're not enjoying it' to suffice. But it was concise enough that Gabrielle knew exactly what he meant, and felt like an abject failure. She felt tears come to her eyes.

"Hey," Jack said soothingly, "it's not your fault. It's me. I'm fussy about kissing. I need to feel like it's this epic thing out of the movies or it doesn't do anything for me."

Her response was to start crying in earnest. "It's not you," she sobbed. "It's me. I've had heaps of men tell me I'm a lousy kisser. It's not my fault. It was Steve. He was my first and… Jack's, he's an alcoholic and he was always drunk… I hated the taste of it on his breath…hated kissing him… hated it…"

By now she was sobbing in his arms, and he held her gently. "It's OK," he said. He kissed her forehead and let her cry into his shoulder. And he found himself making an offer he never saw himself making. "Gabby, I'll teach you if you want me to. Get in the backseat."

She looked at him with confusion – and interest. "How?" she asked.

"Its not hard. You just need to relax. Trust me, I used to be a pretty lousy kisser."

Gabrielle sniffled. "You?" she asked. "Why the hell would you need to undo bad habits? I bet you were always a great kisser."

Momentarily Jack thought about Patrick Wesley forcing his tongue into his mouth – among other things. Christ, the memories. He decided to tell a semi-truth. "Between eight and sixteen the only time anyone touched me was Stella or dad, to strike me. I still have the scars on my back to prove it. I didn't like being touched, and an ex of mine taught me a few things about relaxing. Mostly about employing all your senses in getting that it's that one person – touch, taste, feel, hear. Keep your eyes closed, but focus on me. Focus on my voice, focus on my touch." He kissed the side of her neck and ran his fingers across her collarbone. She shivered; her silk blouse suddenly felt as if it wasn't there. "You're beautiful," he said, and he wasn't playing now. He saw her strength, her courage, her intelligence, and she was beautiful to him. "Get in the back, I'm not leaning across the front like this."

Gabrielle did as Jack told her, and a few seconds later she was sitting in his lap in the back of her car, telling herself that it was only pretend. She dug her fingers into the back of Jack's neck and felt like she was in someplace really nice. She shivered as he ran his mouth and fingers over her face and neck without properly kissing her. She ran her fingers over his skin, kissed him along his neck and collarbone, finding it a huge revelation just how good someone could taste. It was euphoric, and the little murmuring sounds coming from the back of Jack's throat were only urging her on. By the time he got to her mouth, she was thoroughly worked up and was wriggling around on his lap.

This kiss was much better than the first one. She found herself more relaxed, more receptive. She opened her mouth up to his tongue, met it with hers, wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, her legs tighter around his waist. His hands were wandering down the side of her body, under her blouse, brushing the bare skin of her torso… she whimpered softly in disappointment when his mouth left hers, but her whimperings took on a more pleased note when he started kissing her neck and collarbone. "Jack…" she cried out softly, thinking that she'd never known such a sensual experience in all the time she'd been with Steve…

She moved her hands under his shirt, feeling the warm skin of his back, thinking it was the most sensual feeling in the world… her fingers brushed against the raised lines of scar tissue. "Jack?" she whispered as Jack was busy nuzzling her neck.

"I told you I have the scars to prove it," he reminded her. "Please, don't push it."

She didn't. Instead, she continued to run her hands along his back, not discriminating between the smooth and scarred skin. She didn't realize how much this meant to Jack, to have someone accept his body as it was, scars and all. He'd been to bed with so many women who just acted as if that section of his body wasn't there, and it hurt more than he cared to admit. But Gabby – Gabrielle – didn't seem bothered by them.

After a few minutes of making out, she started to get the hang of it, and started taking some initiative. She trailed her mouth along his face and neck, boldly undoing a few buttons to get better access. He sighed happily as she kissed him until he felt the pressure of her mouth on his neck. "Sweetheart, ease up," he said. "You're going to leave a mark."

"You want people to ask questions, don't you?" she asked cheekily. He didn't protest when she kept up what she was doing. Christ, it felt so good, even if it just was playing, he didn't want it to stop…

The front floodlights were switched on, blinding Jack and Gabrielle. She scrambled out of his lap in a very undignified manner. "Sorry, that would be Dan," Jack said. "I should go in. I'll, uh, see you tomorrow at work, OK?" Gabrielle nodded and Jack went in the house.

"What was that about?" Dan asked. "You were out these for ages."

"So you decided to turn on the floodlights?" Jack asked. "We were just talking." _And making _out. He could still taste her on his mouth, see her lips wet from his…

"You and Gabrielle seem to be doing a lot of 'just stuff' lately," Dan commented. "Just dinner, just a party, just talking…"

"You trying to make a point, Dan?"

"Not at all." Jack felt his skin start to burn when he felt Dan's eyes search him for evidence of him being up to no good. He knew the hickey would start Dan talking, knew that was what he wanted, but it still creeped him out, being checked over like this. " I'm going to bed." And with that, Jack went to bed, although he found sleep elusive. He couldn't get Gabrielle out of his head.

--

"There's something going on between them. He's spending so much time with her, and I swear he's got a hickey," Dan said a few minutes later when he called Erica.

"You think they're getting it on?"

"Better bloody not be. She's my _boss_."

"Like Bianca was his?" Erica pointed out.

Dan made a face. "It's still not right."

Erica shrugged. "If you mean 'cos of his history – Gabby's a pretty smart woman, more so after Steve burnt her, I doubt she'd get involved with Jack if she wasn't sure he wouldn't jerk her around. And Jack deserves someone he really likes… who isn't going to jerk him around." She made a face, thinking of Deanna Richardson.

Dan shrugged. "I guess," he said. "I'd just prefer it wasn't my boss."

"Well, who knows… they may just be mates. I mean, you'd think they both by now would have worked out the complications of getting involved with someone you work with."

"As opposed to us?" Dan asked.

"Nah, we're the exception. We're the couple other people look up to and wish they had the same thing."

Well. He'd get to the bottom of it. Hadn't he established himself as someone who knew how to ferret out a good gossip? If Jack wouldn't fess up, Dan would find out himself. And embellish. Would serve Jack right for keeping secrets from his best mate – or at least, trying to.

--

It was Friday night at Cougars, and everyone who had the night off was there. Jack and Gabrielle had met up earlier for dinner, which naturally made Erica, Dan, Charlotte and Steve drool with curiosity when they came in and found the two of them looking very cosy. It wasn't like they'd been caught in a compromising position, it was just that, well, these days Jack and Gabrielle seemed to do a _lot_ together.

And the fact they both seemed to be happier these days was no secret – about as much of a secret as the blows they had both taken in their private lives. The rumour mill was already beginning to crank – were they finding solace from their turbulent love lives in each other?

That they were pally was undeniable, although no-one had caught them doing anything to confirm their coupledom. They were just pally; they got each other, had a great camaraderie… Charlotte had thought more than once that they reminded her or herself and Vincent on a good day. But she and Vincent had been married, whereas Jack and Gabrielle were… what?

After a few hours, Jack said he had to leave, he had an earlyish start the next day. Gabrielle seconded the need to get to bed and offered him a lift home.

"OK, anyone know what the hell is going on between those two?" Charlotte blurted out as soon as Jack and Gabrielle were out of earshot.

"No way are they on together," Steve said sullenly, vaguely insulted by the notion that that 'his Gabby' would hook up with someone like Jack Quade. "She'd be, what, conquest number five hundred and seven for him? She's got better taste than to go out with someone with _his_ reputation."

_Like yours is so much better_. Charlotte, Dan and Erica were all thinking the same thing. "Jack's reputation is largely exaggerated," Dan came to the defense of his housemate. "He just had a rough patch for a while when he was dealing with some pretty lousy stuff, and he's been home almost every night he hadn't been working since."

"Except when he's with Gabby," Erica piped up. Steve glowered.

"I don't get it," Charlotte mused. "He's so friendly and affectionate with her. Not quite like they were in a relationship, but more than he would be with, say, me or Cate. If I didn't know them both better, I'd say they were together and trying to hide it."

"And not doing a very good job of it," Dan added.

--

"…Steve looked like he was about ready to cut my heart out with a steak knife," Jack laughed on the ride home. "Or maybe cut my dick off. Either way, he looked pissed."

"You exaggerate. What's he got against you?"

"Uh… _you_," Jack said pointedly. "I don't care what you think, Gabs, he still has feelings with you and it must do something to him to know that someone else is sniffing around what he considers to be his turf."

"I'm no-one's turf!" Gabrielle said indignantly.

"Just said _he considers_ it to be his turf, didn't I?" he asked. "I'm well aware that being with someone at one point in time doesn't give you claim over them forevermore. I just thing he still has feelings for you, and even though he may get that it's never going to happen, he still dislikes anyone who's with you."

"Steve's the only man I've been with," she admitted a few minutes later when they were in the house Jack shared with Dan, cuddled up on the couch. "I never much got the appeal of sex, I thought everyone was exaggerating… now I wonder if maybe I was wrong, or we were wrong together or… something."

"What's got you thinking that?"

"Oh, just being with you. I have fun with you. It's easy – or at least, it doesn't feel like it's one struggle after another. You make me feel special and respected and I never had that with Steve. It makes me think that if I get that from a friendship, maybe something was wrong with our relationship."

Jack laughed ruefully. "You are special to me, and I do respect you. And yes, I'm inclined to believe you weren't meant to be together if you ever got that from him. And as for not getting the appeal of sex…look, I'm drunk and I want to ask you something personal, so you can just refuse to answer if you want."

"Shoot."

"You ever had an orgasm?"

Gabrielle felt her cheeks going red. Jack had warned her it was a personal question, but this… "I don't know," she said. She found Jack laughing softly, and grew indignant. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but in my experience 'I don't know' means no. I've been with enough women who looked at me like I was God when I made them come for the first time to know that. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, you just strike me as someone who hasn't experienced just how fantastic sex can be."

"And I suppose you have?"

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, I have. Not as much as I would have liked – but with a few women. That's kind of what got me started on this celibacy thing. I'm tired of sex with women I don't have a connection with."

Gabrielle started laughing. "You, celibate?"

Jack sounded hurt. "I've been celibate since Mercedes. Honestly, I enjoyed myself more kissing you than I did having sex with her… or Rachel, or most of the other women in the last two years. I'm so bloody tired of going through the motions. I want something more real than that."

For a moment, Gabrielle was lost for words. Then she said, "Look, you asked me something personal, I think it's my turn."

"Shoot."

"Do you, um, how do you feel about going down on women?" she asked.

Jack chuckled. "That _is_ personal," he said. He was secretly impressed that she had the nerve to ask such a thing. "Why do you ask?"

"Steve hated it. Thought it was revolting."

"Bet Steve wasn't adverse to having his dick sucked for hours," Jack said crassly. Gabrielle squirmed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It's not my place."

"It's fine, Jack. I've never been with anyone else so I don't know for sure but I think he was kind of selfish in bed. Actually, he was kind of selfish in a lot of ways."

That didn't surprise Jack. "For what it's worth, I enjoy it 'cos I enjoy making women feel good. I never understood how men could stand to be selfish in bed. There's no fun in it if she's not getting as much out of it as I am. I may have been kind of lousy in the past about not calling afterwards but I've always shown women a fantastic time in bed."

They lapsed into silence, both a little turned on by the erotic turn the conversation had taken. Jack's ears pricked up. "That's Dan's car in the drive," he said. "Straddle me. We need to make this look authentic."

They had talked about this before. They needed to be caught out in a position which left nothing to the question of their togetherness. Obediently, Gabrielle straddled Jack, knees on either side of her legs, and kissed him.

This kiss – their second – was no less explosive then heir first. Or was this their third now? She didn't know. All she knew was that kissing Jack felt pretty good… she unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and trailed kisses along his collarbone, something she was learning he liked.

He groaned softly and placed his hands on the back of her head. "Christ, what are you doing?"

"You said it needed to be authentic," she said cheekily.

"Oh, you want authentic, do you?" Jack rose to the challenge. He started trailing kisses down her neck and shoulders – rather convenient that she was wearing an off-the-shoulder red top – and placed his hand on her lower thigh, moving it up her split-skirted leg, expertly working around to the inside of her thigh and running his hand up and down until she was gasping. Her hands grasped at his hair, and for once, he didn't mind the pressure of hands at the back of his head, as he clamped his mouth down on her neck. "Jack," she gasped, and her words were a hundred percent real. "Oh, God…" She pressed her body harder against his, and he responded by wrapping his free arm tighter around her waist.

Their makeout session was interrupted moments later by Dan and Erica walking through the door. The light being thrown on had a startling effect on both of them, causing Gabrielle to jump off Jack and both of them look very guilty. "I'll, uh, see you out," he said, jumping up, Gabrielle stood up too and followed Jack to the door, trying her best to ignore the look of her subordinates. She supposed she couldn't blame them, catching their boss making out with a surgeon would come as a surprise but still…

She felt cheated, she admitted to herself. Even though the plan had been for Dan and Erica to catch them out, making out with Jack was the most sensual thing she'd experienced, and she felt cheated for having that interrupted.

"Uh, Gabby, look, I need to tell you something… I really enjoy kissing you. I don't know if it's just that we're good mates and we have that connection or what… but I enjoy it. And… with your permission… while we're doing this… I'd like to be able to kiss you… just because… not just because we're doing this pretend thing."

Jack's words came out awkwardly, but Gabrielle knew exactly what he was talking about. They had chemistry, while they were playing out a charade that required them to spend a lot of time together, why not enjoy the chemistry in privacy? "That would be nice," she said, with surprising shyness. The idea that someone as experienced with women and sex would be keen on her was a little surprising, and she wondered what she had that someone like Rachel or Mercedes didn't.

Jack smiled. "Good." And he leant in to kiss her.

Kiss number three was as good as kisses one and two. She was getting the hang of the appeal of kissing, and her tongue met his easily. The kiss deepened, and he grabbed her hips, hoisting her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist. She was kissing Jack Quade against her car – it was thrilling.

For a couple of minutes they went at it until the flood lights came on again, blinding them. "I'd better let you go and hash it out with him," Gabrielle said ruefully. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she replied, and they kissed again briefly. She drove home feeling giddy and lightheaded.

"You wanna tell me turning the flood lights on was about?" Jack asked testily when he went back in the house. He was crankier than he cared to admit that Dan had interrupted a very pleasant kissing session. He glanced over at Ricki, who was texting on her phone. "Who are you texting?" he asked.

"Claire Miller," she replied.

"Why?"

"Going through my address book in alphabetical order."

It had been what Jack had anticipated, he'd modeled his and Gabrielle's behavior on it, but it still sucked to know Erica was so quick to start spreading the gossip. "And I don't suppose the fact we're trying to keep our private life private matters at all to you?"

Jack, when he wanted to, could deliver sarcasm with heavy anger, and he succeeded in making Erica flinch at his tone of voice. "Sorry," she said in a small voice.

"Sorry? This from someone who's boyfriend begged me to cover for him? The two of you are full of it." He glared at Dan. "And don't think I'm about to forget this little hypocricy of _you_ sleeping with _my_ boss. Why the hell do you think I've been spending so much time at Gabby's? So I wouldn't make you feel icky, which is a hell of a lot more than you did for me."

Even though he'd planned for this to happen, Jack felt a little guilty that Dan and Erica were looking – and no doubt feeling – guilty as sin. He'd banked on the fact neither would be able to refrain from a good gossip.

Jack went to his room, waited a few minutes and called Gabrielle, who was just getting in the door. "As of five minutes ago, Ricki was texting everyone she knew," he said. "Get ready for some fallout tomorrow."

"How do you feel about them being so eager to tell everyone?" she asked.

Gabrielle knew he was making a face, even if she couldn't see it. "A bit disappointed," he admitted. "I mean, I know the two of them are the biggest gossips in the hospital and that's what I was banking on but – bloody hell, Gabby, I went out of my way to cover for them when they were trying to keep their relationship a secret."

"That's just who Dan is," Gabrielle said soothingly. "You know if you'd wanted to keep it a secret, you could have."

"You know how to put things into perspective, don't you?" she asked.

"Well, I have been spending an awful lot of time getting to know you lately," she said slyly. Jack laughed. They spoke for a few more minutes until there was a knock on Jack's door. "Come in," he said. It was Dan. "OK, I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked. Gabrielle confirmed.

Jack hung up the phone and looked pointedly at Dan. "Make it quick, I'm tired," he said.

Dan looked contrite. "Look, I'm really sorry about letting Ricki text everyone – I should have pointed out that, well…"

"That not only did I keep my mouth shut about you guys, I helped you keep it a secret?" Jack supplied.

Dan looked sheepish. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Forget it. It's over." Jack wasn't about to admit that it was kind of sweet that Dan had felt guilty about the whole thing – at least it proved he'd felt _some_ remorse over it.

"Uh… Jack. Look, I don't mean to pry, and I promise this'll stay between us, but… why Gabrielle? I seem to recall you calling her plain and dumpy."

Jack chuckled. "I was pissed off or I wouldn't have said it. I don't know why Gabby… we've just been spending a lot of time together… the irony is, what I liked about spending time with her was I figured we were both too burnt from previous encounters to be interested in each other. But she's just… I can't explain it. She makes me feel special. And safe. I can't remember the last time I was with a woman and I felt settled." He closed his eyes and smiled as he remembered how good kissing her felt. "Hell, I can't remember the last time I was keen on kissing a woman. I've been going through the motions a lot lately," he admitted.

"Does she know about Patrick?" Dan asked.

Jack frowned. "Does Ricki know about every woman you ever had sex with?" he countered.

"You didn't have sex with him, he molested you. There's a huge difference."

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to tell her? That I lost my virginity when I was thirteen to a pedophile who made me his sexual plaything for two years? How the hell do I tell her about that? It was hard enough telling you."

He was beginning to sound hysterical. It was something he'd thought about before. How in Christ's name was he supposed to tell any woman about what had happened to him? Now it wasn't about Gabrielle, wasn't about this bet, only about a level of intimacy that terrified Jack.

"So what, you're going to go through life not letting women in like that?" Dan asked. "Please, promise me something."

"That depends what it is."

"You'll tell her before you sleep with her."

Jack was relieved. That meant he was in the clear because he was never going to sleep with Gabrielle. "How do you know I'm not already sleeping with her?" he asked crossly.

"Because I like to focus on the fact that you're _not_ sleeping with my boss as opposed to the possibility that you _will_, and besides, I figure if you were, you wouldn't be on the couch, you'd be in here. Jack, honestly, I think if you don't tell her, it's going to eat at your relationship."

Jack was stunned at Dan's insight; he wasn't the most in-depth of men. He wondered how much of it was true. He was terrified at the mere thought of telling a woman he was seeing about Patrick, but at the same time, he knew he didn't want to go back to relationships where he was constantly guarding himself and hiding huge parts of himself. "I promise," he whispered, and he wondered how much of it he meant, although not, of course, about Gabrielle.


	5. Chapter 5

_Again, people. Thanks for reading, but no feedback, no next chapter!_

"Gabrielle, when is Jack meant to be in?" Clare Miller asked early the next day.

"Twelve," Gabrielle replied without missing a beat. She and Jack knew each other's schedules pretty well.

"You, uh, seem to know his schedule pretty well," she said, just a little too insubordinate, and Gabrielle realized Claire had asked about when Jack came in to see how quick her response was, how well she knew Jack's life. Gabrielle felt her skin burning as she felt her subordinate's eyes graze the nasty hickey Jack had given her the night before. Damn him and his authenticity, even if she had started it by breaking away from his mouth … she suppressed a smile when she thought about how much Jack had seemed to like being kissed along his collarbone and made a mental note to do it next time.

"That would be none of your business, and what's more, if you don't want to be back on night shifts, I suggest you show me, as your boss, a little more respect than to go digging in my private life." Claire immediately backed off. Gabrielle was respected as a decent boss and besides, everyone – Gabrielle included – knew telling people to back out of her private life was a moot point; Ricki had seen to that when she'd started texting people that Gabrielle and Jack had been busted making out on the couch and looking like they were about to move to his room.

Claire backed off, but there was no denying there was gossip in the air; gossip about Gabrielle and Jack. The ED held its collective breath as it waited for Jack to get back from helping Mike Vlasek in surgery; the anticipation wasn't helped when Frank came in, saw Gabrielle and snapped, "Jaeger, when Quade gets in I want to see both of you in my office."

"Our office, Frank," Gabrielle had retorted.

The ED was oddly quiet when Jack got back to the ED; he could feel the anticipation of his actions as soon as he walked through the door. They had already agreed to act like a couple who'd been caught out and saw no reason to both hiding anymore, but it felt stranger in practice than it had seemed in theory.

She was standing at the main desk, going through paperwork. He stood behind her, placed his hands on her hips and kissed the side of her head. "How you holding up?" he asked softly.

She made a face. "Everyone's looking at us. I overheard something about us getting busted screwing each other's brains out."

He laughed softly. "I could feel the curiosity as soon as I entered. And there's no way you and I would have been busted having sex, I have a lock on my door and Dan's got better sense than to invade my privacy like that."

"You go tell Claire Miller that."

He laughed again and kissed her again. "You really want me to set her straight or you want to let her writhe in jealousy that someone's got me being all faithful and affectionate and it's not her?"

She laughed. "I like the second idea."

Although no-one could hear what they were talking about, everyone agreed Jack and Gabrielle were looking very cosy…

"Quade! Knew I heard your voice! The two of you, my office, _now!_"

"Think we're in trouble," Jack whispered. He laced his fingers through hers intimately. "Let me do the talking, OK? It's me Frank's pissed off at and I've been through this before."

Gabrielle was glad for Jack's support. However weird going through the motions had been up to now, facing Frank was not something she wanted to deal with. She was so preoccupied with the dread of facing Frank that she completely forgot to notice the fact that all eyes were on her and Jack as she followed him into the office she shared with Frank and Zoe, fingers locked together.

The ED was at as much of a standstill as it could stand as the staff attempted to listen through the door. "You boning her?" Frank asked Jack. Gabrielle gasped at the crassness of Frank's question and burned at the complete lack of respect Frank had shown her in asking the question, let alone in her presence.

She felt Jack tense up and tighten his grip on her hand. "Don't speak about her that way," Jack said, and there was a dangerous tone to his voice that Frank had never heard before. "And no, we're not sleeping together."

"_Yet_." Frank added.

"Oh, what do you want me to say, Frank? That, yeah, I plan on going to bed with Gabby eventually? That's just basic common sense. I'm not comfortable talking about this."

"Should have thought of that before you worked your way through my staff."

"Look, I'm sorry about stuff that's happened in the past. But… I swear to God I'm not screwing around here. Do you think I _wanted_ to fall for someone I work with? Do you trust Gabby's judgment _that_ little that you don't trust that she knows me and my state of mind?"

"Frankly, not given your behavior with Steve," Frank said. "I don't trust either of you not to screw this up." He sighed. "Jaeger, go on break. Quade, stay here. Jaeger – break _now_."

Gabrielle glanced over at Jack, who nodded and let go of her hand. She left the office and pushed past the group gathered not-too-discreetly around the door to the office.

… "Does she know about Patrick Wesley?" Frank asked Jack, back in his office.

Jack flinched. "No," he said.

"You don't think she's not a right to know?"

"Already told Dan this, I don't have to tell every girlfriend I've had about every person I've been with."

"_Woman_, Jack, not _person_. You make it sound like it was consensual."

Jack flinched harder. "I've had a hard enough time telling myself it wasn't to have you add to it."

"Then don't make it sound like it was. Patrick wasn't someone 'you were with'. Wouldn't you want to know if the same thing had happened to Gabrielle?"

"Yes," Jack admitted. "But that's different."

"How?"

"If she'd been raped, I'd get it. Women aren't seen as victims the same way men are."

"And you think Gabrielle will see you as a victim?"

"You're twisting my words."

"I'm merely pointing out your twisted logic. You care about her enough to get involved with her but not enough to trust that she won't see you as a victim. You'd want to know if the same thing happened to her but you won't tell her. What kind of relationship are you setting yourself up for?"

Jack gritted his teeth. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe I don't. But I don't see you're going to have a healthy relationship with any woman if you can't be honest about that." While Jack was glowering, Frank rustled through his desk and found some papers. "I'd like you to take these up to pathology and after that, you can go on break." His voice softened just a touch. "If you'll promise to behave professionally, I'll see what I can do about rostering you on together."

Jack nodded. "Thankyou," he said in a tight voice. He was too angry about Frank meddling in his private life to manage anything else. He knew Frank was only trying to do the right thing by him, but bloody hell, it was his life and Frank couldn't possibly knew how to run it better than he did.

--

Gabrielle was trying to eat her lunch when she was accosted by Jillian Henderson, a stunning oncologist. "Hear you've snagged Jack Quade," she said.

Jillian was the fourth person of the day to ask her about it – and that didn't include all the whispers and innuendoes she'd overheard. "I don't see why that's of importance to you," she said.

"I just… think it's interesting. I mean, you're not exactly Jack's type."

"And what type is that?"

"Oh, you know how superficial surgeons are. He likes them gorgeous and sophisticated." She tossed back her mane of rich dark brown her as if to prove that she was such a gorgeous, sophisticated woman. "You seem a bit too _natural_ for him."

Gabrielle gritted her teeth. Natural mean plain, she knew that. "Guess you're wrong."

Jillian laughed a fake laugh. "We'll see," she said, a decidedly bitchy tone in her voice. "Jack doesn't have a good track record for commitment, does he?"

Gabrielle was on the verge of tears when Jack arrived. Jillian knew exactly what buttons to push – about her plainness, about Jack's seeming inability to stick with one woman for more than a few weeks. "Hey, gorgeous," he said, sitting down next to her, wrapping an arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. "Doctor Henderson," he said with cool politeness.

"Doctor Quade," she replied with equal cool politeness. "What an unexpected couple you make," she cooed. "Well, I'll be off – it was nice seeing you again… _Jack_."

"What was that about?" Jack asked the second Jillian was out of earshot.

"Jack, were you ever involved with her?" Gabrielle asked.

He grimaced. "For two weeks eighteen months ago, which was two weeks too many. She was clingy, shallow and ambitious and actually quite selfish in bed. Make you feel better?"

She sniffled. "A little. Jack, I've had people commenting all day about what you see in me. Jillian called me _natural_." Jack looked confused. "Natural means boring and plain," she explained.

He stroked her hair. "I don't think you're either," he said. "C'mon, you really going to give her the satisfaction of rattling you when she's doing it because she can't stand the fact I might be crazy about you?"

"You're not."

"I could be. I mean, if I was looking to get involved with someone I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at you. You're smart and funny and you make me feel good about myself, which is a hell of a lot more than Doctor Henderson did."

Gabrielle smiled. "You always know the right thing to say," she said.

"I'm going to kiss you now," he said. "Really give people something to talk about."

She shivered in anticipation. She loved how Jack was so respectful of her boundaries. She parted her lips and leaned into him. She whimpered when his lips met hers, cuddled into him intimately. "Think I'm getting the hang of this kissing thing," she murmured.

He laughed softly. "Yeah, you are. You were pretty awful."

"Hey!" Gabrielle slapped him lightly against the back of his head before her hand raked through his hair. She toyed with his hair, rubbing it between her fingers, memorizing the texture. She shivered as Jack ran his hands up and down her arms, willed him to do the same to her back. "Jack," she murmured huskily between kisses. "People are watching."

"I thought that was the idea."

"I can't breathe."

Obligingly, Jack moved his mouth to her face and neck, which did nothing to stop the endorphins flooding her brain. "Jack, I'm dizzy."

"Christ, the way you're carrying on, anyone would think you didn't want me to kiss you." He nuzzled her neck and she kept quiet – well, as quiet as she could manage given Jack and a knack for making her whimper and gasp.

The sound of his phone going off startled both of them, and Jack pulled away abruptly to answer it. "Mike," he said huskily, "What do you want?"

"Pleased to hear you too, Jack," Mike said, the laughter in his voice obvious. Jack had been caught out in a steamy session with his girlfriend as obviously as if Mike had physically interrupted them. "I need you back in surgery. Complications with the last one."

"I'm on break," he complained.

"Spoke to Frank, you'll get your break later. Unless you're too preoccupied getting your dick sucked by a certain nurse."

Jack found himself blushing. "I am not –" he started, before realizing Mike had said it to get a rise out of him – and it had worked. "OK, I'll be there in five." He snapped his phone shut and turned to Gabrielle. "I'm sorry, I have to go." He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her softly. "I'll see you tonight, OK?" Gabrielle nodded.

From a few meters away, Rachel Simms watched Jack go, her heart full of jealousy and hatred towards her former lover and former boss. Jack had never kissed _her_ like that. In fact, if he hadn't been so damn good in bed – even with alcohol slowing him down – the whole experience would have been disappointing. She'd tried to tell herself it was just an off night for him, because even though she didn't know him that well, her gut told him that display of sexual prowess was just Jack going through the motions. She tried to tell herself that he'd taken Travis's death hard – hadn't he sobbed even while he was pounding her against the mattress? She tried to tell herself that any man for whom 'going through the motions' still consisted of bringing the woman to orgasm couldn't be all that bad… but she had watched Jack with Gabrielle just then and knew that he hadn't cared a whit about her. She had just been a convenient body to slake his lust and loneliness, whereas Gabrielle…

He'd kissed Gabrielle like he was madly in love with her, like he could think of nothing more enjoyable to do than kill his lunch break kissing her. He'd never kissed Rachel like that, she knew it, and it killed her.

She marched up to Gabrielle, anger and jealousy written all over her face. Gabrielle, who had a dopey expression on her face from her kissing session with her 'boyfriend', took a while to notice her former charge. Rachel was the one thing they hadn't factored into their plan, and Gabrielle realized with a sinking feeling that that had been a very, very bad oversight. "Rachel," she said, and she knew what it was about the second she saw the stormy expression on Rachel's face.

"You… _bitch!_" Rachel screamed at her.

The vehemence of her words shocked Gabrielle, although looking back, she supposed she couldn't really be surprised. Jack had admitted he'd used Rachel callously and hurt her badly; what the hell was the younger nurse supposed to think when he saw him practically making out with her former boss.

Gabrielle stood up, mainly so she wasn't looking up at Rachel; the younger woman looked quite scary, glaring hatefully down at her. "I swear it's not what it looks like," she said.

"Oh, you _weren't_ getting it on with a man who used me and discarded me the next day?" Rachel asked. "God, you must've had a laugh at my expense. I trusted you as much as I trusted him!"

"Rachel, we never laughed at your expense, I swear. We didn't even get involved until after he opened up about how bad he felt about treating you."

"How _bad_ he felt? How about how bad _I_ felt? You ever had a guy blather on about how much he likes you and cry while he's making love to you and then _ignore you the next day?_ I _confided_ in you, I _trusted _you and, what, were you secretly getting it on with him?"

"No, of course we –"

"Shut up!" Rachel screamed. If she heard Gabrielle refer to her and Jack as 'we' one more time, she was going to scream. She doubted Jack had ever referred to she and him as 'we', not even in the sense of 'we had sex last night'. She bet he'd phrased as 'I spent the night with her' or 'I had sex with her'. "You – you – betrayed me you _slut!_"

The impact of her punch sent Gabrielle reeling backwards; for her size, Rachel had a pretty hefty right hook. "I'm not going to fight with you, Rachel," she said quietly, with as much dignity as she could muster given at least a dozen people had just witnessed her former charge punching her in the face over a man.

"Why? 'Cos you've already won? 'Cos you can lie in his arms and laugh at the silly temp who was dumb enough to go to bed with him. You _bitch!_" Rachel punched Gabrielle again. "You lying, double-dealing _slut_!"

"OK, Rachel, that's enough, go take it out on Jack if you want an outlet." Bart had seen trouble brewing from the other side of the courtyard and was currently trying to stand between them, although Rachel looked pretty damn pissed and he doubted his ability to keep her off Gabrielle if she was determined to inflict more bodily harm. "Uh, _security!_"

Thankfully, it didn't take long for security to arrive and restrain Rachel, who quickly dissolved into tears once her anger was spent. Bart focused his attention on Gabrielle. "You need to get to the ED."

"I'm fine."

"You're nose looks like it's broken, or at least fractured." It was true; it was bleeding and swollen and looked like it was on a funny angle.

"I am not going to the ED over this. I'll never live it down."

"You want me to tell you some of the gossip I've heard about you today? You don't have much personal reputation left to live down, so you may as well salvage your professional dignity rather than look like an idiot who won't get herself checked out."

Gabrielle let Bart march her to the ED. "Um, possible break or fracture," he said. The fact she was bleeding from the nose spoke volumes about where said break or fractures was coming from.

Frank looked suspicious. "What happened?"

"Rachel Simms?" he half-asked, half-told.

Frank looked ready to explode. "Bloody Quade, always causing trouble."

--

"What's this about you and Gabrielle Jaeger?" Mike asked over surgery.

"It's nothing."

"A nothing friend you were caught having sex with?" Mike pushed.

Jack blushed. He couldn't believe how personally he was taking this. "The only way I'm caught having sex is if there's a fire and Dan opens my door. He doesn't dare invade my room any other way. I have a lock and everything."

"Ahhh… of course. Does Gabrielle know why you have a lock on your door?"

Jack looked his mentor in the eye and told a semi-truth. "We haven't had sex yet so it's been making out on the couch. She hasn't seen my room yet."

"You gonna tell her before you sleep with her?"

"What, that the first person I had sex with was a forty-something pedophile?"

"First person who had sex with _you_, Jack. Difference. You never consented."

"Bloody hell, why do you people keep harassing me about this?"

"Um… maybe because we're right. You've come too far to be able to get in a relationship with someone and not tell them about Patrick. I know you like that. I've been there myself. When I was with Cate…"

"Yuk, Mike, that's not a visual I want."

"Nonetheless, when I was with Cate – I wanted a relationship with her and I wanted to be honest with her. Maybe me being honest killed the relationship but… I'm glad I was honest. I don't want a dishonest relationship anymore. And I think you're the same."

"Sorry, I'm still focused on you having sex with a mate of mine," Jack quipped, hiding the way Mike's words hit a nerve.

--

"Taylor, you need to go wait outside the OR for Quade."

"Why me?" Steve asked indignantly.

"Because the last man who hurt a woman Jack cared about needed two other men two hold him down to make him behave. He'll walk right through Beaumont and Gallagher 'cos they're smaller than him."

Steve glowered. There was some irony to the fact that he should be sent to make sure Gabrielle's new boyfriend – Jack Quade, of all people – didn't wreak vengeance on a woman who had slighted Gabrielle because of her relationship with Jack.

OK… _slighted_ was an understatement. Rachel had, at least, fractured Gabrielle's nose. It unsettled Steve that Frank was confident Jack cared enough about Gabrielle to go wreak vengeance. Even with all the gossip circulated them…. Damnit, he had been in her life much longer than some snooty-nosed would-be surgeon.

Mike, by this point, had already got the word, and was waiting when surgery ended. "Uh, you might want to come to the ED," Steve said awkwardly.

"Why?" Jack asked.

"Gabby's been hurt."

"How?"

"You want to waste time talking or you want to get your ass down to the ED?"

Jack crossed his arms across his chest. He knew when someone was trying to get around him. Then again, Steve, as an alcoholic, probably wasn't used to subtlety. "How about you tell me how she got hurt or I'm going to assume you broke her heart again," he said coolly.

"Ah, Jack, wasn't Steve's fault this time," Mike said. "She got in a punch-up with Rachel. Or, rather, Rachel got in a punch-up with her."

Jack gritted his teeth. He wanted to hurt someone. "What happened?"

"Don't have a lot of reports just yet, but from what we can gather, Rachel saw the two of you in the courtyard and waited 'til you were gone. Bart broke them apart," Steve said. "Gabby's got a fractured or broken nose out of it."

Guilt flooded Jack. "I should have thought of this," he muttered, ad he started racing towards the stairs. Steve and Mike nearly had to run to keep up with him.

--

"Miss Jaeger, we'd like to ask you some questions."

"Forget about it, I'm not pressing charges," Gabrielle told the police.

"She fractured your nose in an unprovoked assault," one of them pointed out.

Gabrielle closed her eyes. She was sick of explaining this to people. She felt for Rachel. The woman – more of a girl than a woman – had fancied herself in love, and she could almost understand Rachel's anger. "It doesn't matter, it won't happen again." That she knew of. Rachel's anger was spent.

At that moment, Jack strode through the ED, Mike and Steve trailing behind. Gabrielle wondered how Steve had got caught up in this – probably because Jack was known to have a murderous temper and the biggest guy the ED had to offer was sent to calm him down. There was an irony. Steve and Jack didn't like each other in the best of times, and since Jack and Gabrielle had become friends, things had gotten worse than ever.

Jack rushed up to Gabrielle and kissed her lightly on the forehead, scared to hurt her. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like my nose in fractured," she replied.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault."

"Jack, you didn't punch me and you didn't fracture my nose. It's not your fault."

"I should have realized she might take it hard. Should have said something to her rather than letting her find out through the gossip vine."

She took his hand. "Its not your fault, OK? Stop beating yourself up over it."

"It _is_ my fault, or at least part of it is. Christ, I was having so much fun I just didn't think."

Gabrielle gritted her teeth. She was in pain and Jack's conscience kicking in wasn't making her feel any better. "If I let you take me home and make me dinner and make a fuss over me, will that help ease your conscience?"

He smiled guiltily. While he'd been blathering on about being at fault, he hadn't thought that maybe she was in pain and irritable. "Yeah," he said. He kissed her lightly on the mouth. "You just wait, you'll be begging me to stop spoiling you."

"I doubt that." She closed her eyes as Jack started kissing her face and neck was breathtaking gentleness. She gasped when she felt his tongue flick over her collarbone. Christ, but he was a sensual man. "Jack, it's a public hospital."

"So? It's not like I'm taking your shirt off." Gabrielle didn't protest over that; she knew even if they were interrupted (which she doubted) all anyone would see was Jack being particularly affectionate to his new 'girlfriend'. She ran her hand through his hair and passively accepted his affection.

Jack felt Gabrielle stiffen up beneath him and he rose slightly and turned around – to see Rachel standing there. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked coolly.

Rachel flinched at the hard tone in Jack's voice; this was, after all, a man who had called her 'baby' and 'darling' and cried in her arms while he had sex with her. And it was a knife in her heart to see him being so affectionate with Gabrielle. "I just wanted to see Gabrielle," she said in a small, tight voice.

"You've seen her. Fuck off."

"Jack!" Gabrielle admonished him. She'd never known him to use that sort of language. "Rachel, what is it?" she asked.

"Can I see you? Alone?" she asked.

"No," Jack said.

"Jack, it's fine. Can you give us a few minutes?" Jack searched Gabrielle's eyes for confirmation that she wanted him to leave, then he did so – reluctantly.

"I'm really sorry," Rachel blurted out as soon as Jack was gone.

"You fractured my nose, over a man no less," Gabrielle said. "Sorry doesn't exactly cut it."

Rachel started to cry. "I sorry, I just – I was so jealous and angry when I saw you guys kissing. I couldn't believe it when I heard and seeing you… he never kissed me like that. Please don't hate me. You were the best boss I ever had."

Gabrielle sighed. She couldn't bring herself to hold Rachel's actions against her, as extreme as they had been. "I don't hate you," she said. "Jack admitted he treated you rotten before we got together, he's felt guilty about it 

ever since." She waved at the chair Jack had been sitting in moments previously. "Sit down if you want, since you're here there's a few things I want to talk to you about." Rachel said. "Did Jack promise you anything?" she asked.

"Sorry?"

"When he spent the night with you. Did he promise you anything – a date, a relationship?" Rachel shook her head. "Then why…?"

"I don't know. I my head I know I should just get over it but… Gabby, I really liked him. I mean, _really_ liked him. I wouldn't have gone to bed if I hadn't. I didn't even mean to go to bed with him – I just thought he'd like some company and I could show him that maybe I was someone who could make him happy. But then…" she found herself blushing a little but Gabrielle was watching her, wanting to know and she continued. "But then he took me to his room and lay me down and… things went pretty quickly from there. He was just so desperate for a connection, called me 'baby' and 'darling' and cried through it."

Gabrielle couldn't help but flinching at this description of the night Rachel and Jack had spent together. She had already known what had happened – Jack hadn't tried to gloss over it – but to hear it from Rachel's perspective somehow made it worse. He had admitted that while he'd slept around a lot, he'd been discreet in his choices. What in God's name would possess him to cross that line and bed an infatuated colleague like Rachel?

"He told me all of this before we got together," Gabrielle said. "He's sorry, Rachel, if that means anything to you."

Rachel sniffled. "Not really. How the hell would you feel if he'd spent the night with you then ignored you the next day? How would you feel if you saw him kissing your former boss? I told you all about it, Gabby, I thought you were my friend."

"I was. I mean, I am… if you still want me to be."

"I can't stand seeing you together," she admitted. "It was bad enough with Mercedes but… you were my friend. I can't work in this hospital anymore, let alone the ED."

Gabrielle didn't bother to point out that the hospital board would have blacklisted her. When temps got in unprovoked punchups with heads of department – especially over something as immature as a man – it was invariably the temp that was dropped. "I'm sorry things worked out this way," she said.

"Me too."

Jack saw Rachel come out of Gabrielle's curtained-off area and took the long way around to avoid crossing her path. Gabrielle flinched slightly when he touched her and he asked her what Rachel had said. "Nothing you didn't already tell me, but it sounds worse coming from her. She's so young and impressionable… Jack, I'm sorry, I know it's unreasonably after we talked about it and I let it go but I can't help feeling a bit disgusted with you. Did you – did you know she didn't intend to have sex with you, she just wanted to keep you company?"

"I hope you know I never would have touched her if I'd known that," Jack said indignantly.

"Of course I know that." She'd been too quick to word her sentiments. "Jack, it's just… I don't know why you did it."

"I told you why I did it. I was lonely."

"You also told me you were lonely a lot and were usually discreet enough not to target women you worked with. Then in a fortnight there was Rachel and Mercedes and God knows who else. What the hell did Travis mean to you that you went off the rails like that?"

"You don't need to know that. You're not my girlfriend."

"I _am_ your friend, Jack, and I'm trying to understand what the hell would possess you to do it. You trust me, don't you?"

He felt tears start up in his eyes. "Yeah, I do," he said, and the huskiness in his voice wasn't caused kissing her too much. "Look, can we do this at home? I'm likely to start crying and when I do, I don't know how long it will take me to stop."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey guys, thanks for reading! A word of warning for this chapter - please don't keep reading if you're sensitive to rape, particularly m/m rape. This is my interpretation of Jack's abuse - I wasn't impressed with the way they deal with it in canon and I'm happy to explain why (feel free to email me or contact me through this site) but please consider yourself warned that this chapter contains fairly graphic scenes and skip through it if you're sensitive to it.**_

_Jack was thirteen and, despite his step-mothers best efforts to make it otherwise, he was actually quite happy. He was doing well at school, thanks to Patrick Wesley going into bat for him when it came to skipping a grade, and Patrick was all the parent he needed – and a much better one than the mother who'd abandoned him at eighteen months and the father who left raising him to his embittered, cuckolded wife. Patrick encouraged him to do well at school. Patrick made him feel good about himself. Patrick understood how miserable Stella made his life, alternating between calling him an ungrateful brat who didn't deserve her gracious hospitality and a stupid slut just like his mother – and routinely belting the crap out of him. Patrick made him feel like he belonged to someone. Patrick set him up with odd jobs and let Jack use his house to study and sleep when he need peace and quiet._

_One day, Jack woke up from a nap to find he was lying on his stomach with his clothes off and Patrick… was…touching…him. Jack started to struggle, and felt Patrick's hand on the small of his back. "Easy, Jack," he said, as if he were talking to a recalcitrant child and not a child caught in a pedophile's trap. "You know you want this."_

"_No."_

_Patrick slapped him and he cried out. "This is going to be a little uncomfortable," he said. "I can make it a lot more uncomfortable if you don't co-operate. You need to be a baby and cry, do it into the pillow, understand? This is going to happen and if you scream I'll gag you and not use lubricant, you got that?" Another slap. "You got that?"_

"_Yes," Jack whimpered. He shuddered when Patrick penetrated him with his fingers. "Please," he begged. "Please just… let…me…go. I won't tell anyone. Please."_

"_You've been begging for this for ages, following me around, begging for attention. You can't back out now."_

_Jack cried out when Patrick made a few attempts to penetrate him. "Pillow," he instructed gruffly. "Christ, you're tight. You need to relax."_

_Relax? Who the hell could relax when some you idolized as a father figure was trying to rape you?_

_Jack screamed when Patrick finally succeeded in getting inside of him. Screamed and cried like the child he was. He'd known it was going to hurt but this – he felt like he was being split in two. He couldn't barely breathe. He wanted to die._

_After it was over, Patrick made him shower until the bleeding had stopped and sent him home, where Stella promptly laid into him for a complaint Patrick had laid against him – stealing. "We think it's best if you work for him until he feels you've paid for it."_

_The next time, Patrick greeted him as if nothing had happened. Then a few minutes later he casually remarked, "Get on your knees, Jack."_

_Jack glared hatefully. He was still sore from the last time, like hell he was doing anything like that again. "You put that in my mouth and I'll bite it off," he promised._

_Patrick backhanded him hard enough to send him reeling. "You'll get on your knees or you'll get on your stomach."_

_Jack got on his knees and always hated himself a little bit for it, like getting the choice meant he had consented. The experience was humiliating, and Jack threw up immediately after, but at least it didn't hurt for days or weeks afterwards._

_Over the next year, Patrick used Jack whenever he felt like it – and as the months went by, he increasingly felt like it. After eighteen months he started to lose interest and after two years he had completely moved onto someone newer, younger._

_Jack had thrown himself into his studies, graduating at sixteen and going on to get a scholarship which included board and stipend. He filed for and got emancipation; Stella, if not Ned, was pleased to see the back of her._

_He discovered getting women into bed was easy. He quickly learnt how to play them sexually, knew how to make them want it badly. No matter how quickly he might lose interest in them, it was important that sex was __nothing less than a fantastic experience for them. After a while – the first hundred women or so – the feeling that Patrick was in the room with him disappeared._

_But intimacy continued to be an issue for him. How the hell did you open up to a woman about something like that? How did you tell people that the longest sexual relationship you'd been in was with a man who used you as a plaything?_

"You know one of the last things Travis said to me was that he's never had a girlfriend – a few dates, but he could never get past the feeling that Travis was in the room with him. I was like that myself for years, except instead of being frigid I was promiscuous. I didn't get anything out of it, I was just determined to prove that the things he said about me – about wanting it, about being a fag – weren't true. I was just going through the motions and it scares me that so much of what I do is going through the motions."

Gabrielle cupped Jack's face and stroked his hair. His face was wet with tears. She wanted to cry herself, cry for all the horrible things Jack had suffered through, but she knew Jack needed someone to be strong for him – God knew he'd never had much of that. "You can't do anything about that now," she said. "You can only… appreciate what you've got." _And you've got me_, she wanted to say, but didn't. She moved one hand to the back of his head and pushed it gently against her body, trying frantically to read his body language. She remembered now how many times he'd tensed up when she reached for him from behind, when she'd put his hand on the back of his neck, and she'd thought she'd just surprised him, but she realized now just how hard it was for him to deal with being touched in certain places. Hands on his back could bring back memories of being raped, a hand on the back of his head or neck memories of being coerced into a blow job. So many small affections made him uncomfortable, and she searched for signs of that discomfort now.

He wrapped his arms around her neck and started sobbing, embracing her wholly, either needing her too much to realize it was something he wasn't always comfortable with – or being so at ease with her that he _could_ be comfortable. "Oh, God, he raped me and some days I can barely stand it."

She held him tightly as he cried. He was trying to muffle his sobs and she hugged him tightly and stroked his hair. "Be as loud as you want. We'll deal with it if we get done for disturbing the peace."

Over the next few hours, Jack cried and screamed and clung to her like she were a life raft – at least of the emotional kind. Gradually his crying subsided and he fell asleep in her arms, leaving her awake to contemplate everything he'd told her.

When he was sound asleep, she cried for him, cried for everything he'd lost because of spiteful, selfish people and how hard he'd had to push himself just to get to a point of emotional stability that she and everyone she knew (well, except maybe for Steve) had always taken for granted. She cried for the feelings of disgust, insecurity and loneliness that haunted him. She cried because she'd been falling in love with him for weeks and she was filled with rage that someone could have hurt him like that.

She was in love with him. She hadn't been acknowledging it because she hadn't known what had driven him to use and discard women, and because she hadn't known, she hadn't quite trusted him. Who was to say he wouldn't do something similar if tragedy rocked his life again? But now she knew how hard he was trying, how determined he was to get his life back on track. He had counseling once a week and group therapy for survivors of sexual abuse in childhood once a fortnight. He monitored his drinking and had vowed not to date anyone he wasn't friends with first. He didn't want to go back to emotionless screwing around and drinking to fill a void.

She was in love with him because of his strength, because of his determination to lead a good life. She was in love with him because of his kindness, the way he treated Rebecca, his loyalty to his friends, his compassion as a doctor.

She was in love with him and she couldn't tell him. By his own admission, he wasn't fit to be in a relationship. She knew instinctively that if she'd offered him her body, he would have turned her down – and called off this fake relationship. She wanted more than his kisses, and he was neither ready for a relationship or willing to engaged in casual sex – or 'friends with benefits'.

She couldn't tell him. She had to make him fall in love with her, make him love her, and the only way she could do that was by being his friend. She decided there and then not to say anything to him. She had to leave it to him to realize he was in love with her – if he ever did.

Early in the morning, Gabrielle called the hospital. "Frank, it's me," she said.

"How's the nose?" Frank asked.

"It's fine. It's not about me, it's about Jack. He, uh, told me about Patrick Wesley and told me you knew."

There was a long pause at the end of the line. "Good," he said finally. "I was hoping he would before he slept with you." Gabrielle didn't bother to correct Frank. "How did it go?" Frank asked after another paused.

"He cried for a couple of hours, basically cried himself to sleep. He's been out for about seven hours now." There had been something bizarrely soothing about watching Jack while he was dead to the world, like maybe he had cried out enough of his demons to get a decent night's rest.

Frank nearly shocked on his morning bagel. "I'm sorry, did you just say Jack's been sleeping for seven hours?" Gabrielle confirmed it. "He's been coming it with bags under his eyes most of the time, he wouldn't talk about it but Dan says he still has nightmares frequently. What do you want?"

"I want you to give him the day off," Gabrielle said. "I want to take him out, it must've been ages since he's had fun. I want to make him feel special."

There was a quiet dignity to her words that touched Frank, although he wasn't going to admit it. Instead, he'd spin it into a happy, well-rested Jack being a much better asset to the ED than a tired, haunted one. He glanced over at the rosters. "I can give him two days," he said gruffly. "Gallagher will be convinced I gave him time off for a booty call so after that he's on his own."

"Thanks, Frank," she said. She said goodbye and hung up the phone. She went back into her room to a sleeping Jack and relieved him of his phone and pager. If he wanted to go to work when he woke up, she wouldn't stop him, but damned if she was going to get a good, long sleep – probably the first he'd had in ages – be interrupted by some beaurocrat in admin wanting another doctor.

Two hours later, Jack woke up feeling incredibly rested. "Morning," he said drowsily to Gabrielle, who was watching him from a chair next to the bed. She scooted over and sat cross-legged on the bed. He moved over so his head was in her lap, and she started stroking his hair, something he seemed to really like.

Jack's eyes adjusted to the light and he realized it was late – well, late for the fact he should have been up two hours ago. "Bloody hell, what's the time?"

"Nine."

He bolted up. "I'm supposed to be at work right now."

"No you're not. I called Frank and got you two days off. You can go into work if you want but, well, I was thinking maybe we could spent the day together. "

"I don't want your pity, Gabby. I've been dealing with this since before I started studying, and it's never affected my job."

"I'm not offering you pity, I'm offering you friendship. C'mon, Jack, when was the last time you had fun? It'll be like a platonic date. You'll enjoy yourself, relax, go back to work feeling much better. What would you rather be doing, working, or spending the day with me?"

He smiled at her. "You make a good sale. Where'd you put my stuff? I need to go home and get changed and then I'm all yours."

--

"Am I the only one who sees the irony is Steve covering Jack's shift?" Charlotte asked Dan and Ricki with a smile. Steve had been surly all day, first having had it confirmed that Jack and Gabrielle were indeed together, then being called in to cover Jack's shift.

"I think Dan's more preoccupied with the fact his stupid bet went a bit askew," Ricki said when Dan didn't reply.

"What bet?" Charlotte asked. Ricki explained. "I'm sorry, Dan… you actually _bet_ on who Jack would start seeing next?" she asked.

"Yeah, and the git went and starts dating someone who wasn't on the list. If he's serious about her and they stay together, _no-one_ gets the money and I look like an idiot."

"Who'd you bet on?" Charlotte asked.

"You and Cate."

Charlotte smirked. "That's… kind of complimentary, I guess."

"Well neither of you made a secret out of the fact he basically took Spence's place the second he went back to Somalia."

" He's Zach's godfather and a good friend of mine," Charlotte said indignantly. She was almost as sick of people thinking there was something more than that between them as Jack was. They had remained close after her miscarriage, although he'd drifted away during her pregnancy and then wandered off into some dark place earlier in the year – what had caused it, she didn't know, but Jack was working hard to get his life back together and he was a devoted godfather to Zach – a better parent than Spence, come to think.

But there was nothing between Jack and Charlotte than friendship. She had never been especially attracted to him, although she had to concede he was devastating in bed. It had felt natural for Jack to take over some of the responsibilities for taking care of Zach. Which of course had gotten people talking about them. Charlotte supposed she shouldn't be surprised she was at the top of the list of women people had bet on, even though the idea of being with Jack did nothing for her.

"Is this that stupid bloody bet?" Steve asked sullenly when he overhead Charlotte talking with Dan and Ricki. "That woman lost me a hundred bucks."

"You bet on five women and none of them were Gabby?" Charlotte asked in amazement. That was loyalty for you.

"Who'd you bet on?" Dan asked, just as sullenly. It wasn't so much the money but that he, as the organizer of the bet, had bet on the wrong person. He should know Jack better than that. (He conveniently overlooked the fact he should have known Jack better than to do such a thing.)

"Charlotte, Cate, Jillian Henderson, Rachel and Bianca Frost."

Charlotte nearly spat out the coffee she was sipping. "Oooh, I suggest you _never_ tell Jack that. I think he can get over Dan started this thing, but not that anyone bet on Bianca. Have you not heard anything he's said about her? He's already got a jealous streak when it comes to the women he's dating. You don't want to piss him off more by thinking he'd go anywhere _near_ Bianca."

If it was possible, Steve looked even more sullen. He and Gabrielle had broken up, intellectually he knew he'd deserved to lose her and she deserved to be happy with someone else, but for that someone else to be Jack Quade – the two had failed to hit it off from day one. "They'll never last," he said. "She'll be just another conquest, like Rachel was. And hey, at least I was right about _that_, which I reckon is closer than anyone else got."

Charlotte smiled at Steve's retreating back. That Steve was insanely jealous was obvious.

--

"Jack, nooo! Don't you _dare!_ I can't swim!"

"It's knee deep and I'm sure you know how to stand," Jack said, laughing. After a day of doing coupley, touristy things that both had missed out on in the past, they'd taken a walk on the beach and Gabrielle had mentioned she'd never learned to swim. Which had prompted Jack to scoop her into his arms and walk into the water with her. He was only knee deep but he had Gabrielle squealing in a combination of laughter and mock-fear. The sound was delightful.

The day they'd spent together had been the most fun he could remember in ages. A movie, lunch, carnival rides – he felt like the child he could have been, out with his high school sweetheart. At the moment, Gabrielle was dressed only in denim shorts and a bikini top, and Jack approved. He couldn't deny he was physically attracted to her, and having that eye candy while his sense of right and wrong created a huge wall between him and feeling her up… well it was nice. There was something about looking without touching…. Well, barely touching. "Jack, please, take me back to the beach," Gabrielle gasped.

"Yeah, what do I get out of it?" Jack asked.

"A kiss?" she offered.

There and then, knee-deep in surf, he kissed her, arms still securely locked around her knees and waist. She kissed him back, and he carried her back to shore. He laid her down on the sand gently. "Get on top of me," he directed. "I need you to take the lead so I don't hurt you."

So she got on top of him and they kissed for a few seconds. Despite the summer warmth, she shivered when Jack ran his hands down her back, protected only by the strings on her bikini top.

He tugged idly at the strings and wondered how she'd react if he untied them. It was a deserted beach – his favorite for that reason, he hated Bondi and Manly because they were so bloody crowded – and get could get away with having his 'girlfriend' naked from denim shorts up. He wondered if her breasts were as smooth and supple as the rest of her body.

She felt him tugging at the strings on her bikini, and found herself wanting when he abandoned them to run his hands along the mostly-bare expanse of her back. Of course, she would have been disappointed in him had he taken the opportunity to feel her up – what she loved about Jack was that he respected her private space, even more so now that she knew he'd had to overcome conditioning that sex was about power and intimidation – but she felt strangely disappointed that he _hadn't_.

She kissed him, working her mouth down his neck and collarbone, opening up his shirt. "This is nice," he murmured happily.

"What's nice?" she asked.

"Being here with you. You're right, I've had fun. More fun than I can remember having with any woman I've been with… in ages."

She propped herself up on her shoulders and met his eyes. "I don't know if you've complimented or insulted me that you've had a great time but you wouldn't think to ask me to put out."

Jack laughed. "Now you're just fishing for compliments."

She frowned, trying to work out his logic. "I don't get it."

"Oh, come on, Gabby, you know if I thought I was fit to be in a relationship I'd be screwing your brains out right now – or at least trying my hardest to."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I'm sorry if it took me this long to notice but… you're smart, funny, you make me feel good about myself… those are some damn sexy qualities." He propped himself up slightly. "Does it make a difference to the way things are?"

She took a split second to concentrate her thoughts. If Jack thought she had feelings for him, he'd apologize, he'd walk away, but he wouldn't get involved with her. She wanted to keep what they had together. "You said it yourself, I'm fishing," she said gaily. "The only man I've been with was a philandering alcoholic, when a hot young surgeon pays me compliments and makes me feel good about myself, of course I'm going to bloody fish."

He smiled at her. "Good. I would hate for this to get too personal." And thereby, he created a wall between them. He was not going to ruin his friendship with Gabrielle by sleeping with her. Kisses were one thing – they had chemistry, that was undeniable, and they had to fake it so they may as well enjoy it – but sex was a line he wouldn't cross.

--

_Six weeks later_

"My God, if I see anything more of the two of them, I'm going to throw up," Charlotte complained after running into Jack and Gabrielle when they thought they were enjoying a private moment in the tea room. "Bloody hell, I'm glad they both found someone they care about, but can't they keep it… somewhere else?"

"Try Gabrielle's house," Dan supplied. "He's hardly been home in a month." He appreciated that Jack was keeping the whole having-sex-with-your-boss thing to the boss's house (something he had brought up and thanked Jack for) but he kind of missed his housemate.

The irony was that while Jack spent a lot of nights at Gabrielle's, and frequently in her bed, they'd never slept together. She held him as he cried himself to sleep, she made him feel safe and protected, in a short time she had become his best friend, but he refused to take a step further and think about consummating their relationship.

--

"Jack, stop it," Gabrielle murmured, attempting to being discreet and not squirm when she was sitting in Jack's lap. He was doing something with his fingers, running them up and down her spine and along the small of her back – while they were out with Charlotte, Steve, Dan and Erica at Cougars. Whatever it was, it felt amazing.

Jack had a knack of making her feel good about herself. Deep down, she knew it was years of practice – but she also knew Jack had never felt so comfortable around a woman. She knew, she just _knew_, he touched her the way he did because she was special to him.

He whispered back in her ear "Make me." And he continued what he was doing – nothing that sounded particularly sexual but, _bloody hell, _felt good, until she involuntarily yelped.

"What are you doing to her, Jack?" Charlotte asked.

"Nothing," Jack said smugly, a small element of the cocky man he'd been before Charlotte's miscarriage had clouded his life creeping into his voice. "Not my fault it's so easy to turn her on."

"Uh, no, that would be all the women you've had to practice on," Gabrielle couldn't help retorting. She was getting used to Jack's quite upfront attitude towards sex and sexuality- which included quite a bawdy sense of humour.

Charlotte laughed. Gabrielle understood Jack in every way – including his rather sexual way of thinking. Unlike other girlfriends (namely, Deanna) Gabrielle had accepted Jack and Charlotte's closeness. That took maturity, Charlotte knew. It took maturity to understand that when two people made a baby and lost a baby – well, that kind of thing never really went away.

"I'm with Gabby," she said. "Sorry, Jack, but I wasn't _that_ drunk that I don't remember how much… um… _practice_ you had. Both hands where I can see them"

There was uproarious laughter when Jack obliged by placing the hand that had been playing with Gabrielle's back on the table, his free arm wrapped around her waist. Even Jack could laugh at himself. He had changed, Charlotte realized. Not just from the cloud that her miscarriage had brought him… he could laugh at himself without bitterness. He was wrapped up as securely in her love and acceptance of him and that showed in everything he did; he laughed more, socialized more, was easier to get along with a nicer personal in general. Everyone approved.

Everyone except Steve. He watched Jack and, his heart filling up more with jealousy with every sip of his vodka – disguised as water – and every kiss, every caress, every small sign of affection made him want to sledge Jack for stealing his girl.

He knew Jack hadn't stolen Gabrielle. Steve had walked out on her, jerked her around, treated her shabbily. She had a right to be happy with someone who treated her well, but still –

Still, he wanted her back and wanted Jack Quade off his turf.

"… How's that bet of yours going, Dan?" Charlotte asked an hour or so later after Jack and Gabrielle had left.

Dan made a face. "I can't believe how many women there are out there who are perfectly willing to break up a happy relationship," he said. Actually, he had been downright shocked. Jack had complained a few times about how many women threw themselves at him – there seemed to be a correlation between how long he and Gabrielle had been together and how many women tried to break them up. Jack, as far as he knew, accepted it as them seeing someone who previously had an appalling track record with women suddenly becoming a devoted boyfriend. Jack Quade was now hot property – a talented, good-looking young surgeon who had proven himself capable of love and fidelity. He could kind of understand what would possess women to try and challenge that love and fidelity.

Of course, Dan didn't know that Jack knew about the bet, that for all the women who had bet on themselves (including a few in the ED) it was a matter of pride that they win. Dan just figured Jack was irritable because he was getting fed up of being come onto.

"I'm wishing I never started it," Dan said. "He's happy and so many women are trying to wreck that for selfish reasons. I don't think they'll get there but it's kind of depressing to watch. Should have known betting on Jack was a bad idea."

"Ten bucks says he proposed within six months," Charlotte said.

Dan nearly spat out his drink. "No way!" he said.

"He's crazy about her – I've never seen him like this. I mean, he said he loved Terri but that was nothing compared to this. More to the point, she's just as crazy about him. And… he wants a baby and he wants to do it properly if he can. I give him six months."

Despite what he'd just said about not betting on Jack anymore, Dan blurted out, "A year. You're right, he's crazy about her. But he's been through a lot and I don't think he's ready to make that sort of commitment yet. Six months is too soon."

And so the betting began all over again. And Steve listened with more and more bitterness.

The night progressed and Steve was left alone to get drunk – at least after everyone else had left, he was free to drink openly. After a few hours, he decided it was a good idea to go and tell Gabrielle how he felt – she lived close to the hospital, so she was stumbling distance from Cougars.

Needless to say, Gabrielle was shocked to open the door at two am and have Steve there. She could immediately tell he was drunk, although there were small mercies in the fact he hadn't driven. "Go home, Steve," she said.

He stumbled in the house uninvited. "Want you back, baby," he mumbled. "Quade's an absolute ass."

"You're drunk, Steve, and I'm not discussing my private life with you. I'll call you a taxi."

He grabbed her roughly. "You think someone who's slept with half the hospital's gonna make you happy?"

"At least Jack's trying to make amends," Gabrielle retorted, although she hadn't meant to engage with Steve about her relationship with Jack. She resented the slur against him – Jack was trying hard to live a good life, which was far better than Steve at the moment. "Don't touch me."

Rather than let her go, he kissed her hard. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and she reverted to habit, blocking it with her teeth. The experience was disgusting . She struggled against him and he kissed her harder. Finally, she kneed him in the groin which said him reeling back, howling. "GET OUT!" she screamed. "Get out before I call the police. Get out – get out before I tell _Jack_, and you know what he's like!"

Steve left, and Gabrielle sank into the couch, feeling exhausted. She couldn't believe Steve had just done that. He'd been aggressive before, but not like this. Or maybe it was that she had higher standards now.

She started to cry. She felt like her sanctuary had been invaded, which it had. She wiped her mouth, and could taste the whiskey that had been on his breath. It was just like the way things had been with him, but worse now somehow. If she'd been in the frame of mine to analyze her feelings, she would have realized it was because Jack made her feel special and had raised her standards when it came to men. But the frame of mind she was in, all she could think about was how disgusting and violated she felt.

--

Jack let himself into the office Gabrielle shared with Frank and Zoe. "You look tired," he commented sympathetically. "Didn't sleep well?"

She shook her head. "Poor baby." Now that he was sleeping better, he appreciated more how a poor night's sleep affected your day. "I'll come over tonight, dinner and a backrub, if that will help you relax." He leaned into her to kiss her…

He stopped after half a second. For all Gabrielle's frustration that he never took it further, he did know her mouth intimately and he knew instantly that her lips were bruised. He pulled away and cupped her head, angling it into the light so he could inspect her better. Her lips were bruised, like someone had kissed her hard – or forcefully. He inspected her arms and found more bruises. "Who did this?" he asked. "Was it Steve?" She nodded miserably and Jack swore under his breath.

"Jack, he didn't mean it, he was drunk. I think seeing us together upset him."

"He hurt you, I don't care. Besides, he walked out on you, what the hell claim does he think he has on you?"

"Jack please… I don't need you going all vengeful on me on top of it. It made me feel really violated and I could do with a hug."

Immediately, he pushed his anger at Steve towards the back of his mind and hugged her. "It was horrible," she admitted, feeling instantly better in Jack's arms. He had a knack for making her feel protected – and the fact she could feel the muscles in his arms and chest through his shirt didn't hurt. "He's been aggressive before, but this was worse. I can still taste the whiskey on his breath."

He pulled away slightly, read the permission in her eyes and kissed her gently. "That help?" he asked.

"A little," she said coyly. "It might help more if you kept doing it."

Five minutes later, Zoe walked in to find Jack and Gabrielle in a passionate embrace. She coughed discreetly, and they broke apart. "I, uh, have work to do," he said, practically tripping over himself to get out of the office. He was surprisingly embarrassed, and wondered if this what how Gabrielle had felt when Dan and Ricki – her subordinates – had walked in on them kissing.

"Look, I hate to rain on your parade, but I believe Frank spoke to you about his no-makeout policy in the office," Zoe said to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle blushed. She wondered how Jack felt – she and Zoe were both Heads of Department (well, she was a HoD, Zoe was 2IC), but Zoe was Jack's boss and he'd been caught kissing a colleague by his boss – he had to be at least as embarrassed as she had been when Dan and Ricki had caught them, and she at least had knew it was going to happen. "I'm sorry, Steve came over drunk last night and he was a bit aggressive. Shook me up a bit and I told Jack I could still taste the whisky on his breath so…"

"You know, Charlotte would tell me he could be very sweet and caring towards women, but I didn't believe her. You bring out the best in him, you know that." Zoe frowned. "Oh, God, we just let him walk out of here while he was pissed off at Steve."

Gabrielle and Zoe rushed out to find Jack having a go at Steve, one hand wrapped around his throat, one punching him. Jack was stronger than he looked and was furious; Steve was hungover and not in particularly good shape. It wasn't an even match. "Keep your filthy hands off her!" he screamed, taking another swing. "Stay the fuck away from her!"

"Jack, stop," Gabrielle pleaded. "Please, stop, this isn't achieving anything." Jack stopped mid-swing and stepped back. Gabrielle took the opportunity to wedge herself between the fighting men and hug Jack. Jack, the knuckles on his right hand bleeding, hugged her. The embrace cut right through to Steve's heart, but sober, he knew he had to leave them be.

"_Please_ tell me this isn't about your uncanny ability to sleep with my NUMs and leave a trail of destruction in your wake, Quade," came Frank's booming voice when he assessed the situation and knew it had something to do with Jack and Gabrielle and the antagonism which had kicked into high gear after Jack and Gabrielle had gotten together.

"Um, it's not about me sleeping with your NUMs and leaving a trail of destruction in my wake?" Jack half-asked hopefully.

"The three of you, my office, _now_."

Jack, Gabrielle and Steve followed Frank into 'his' office. "What the bloody hell is going on?" he demanded.

"It was my fault," Steve admitted. "I got drunk last night and went over to speak to Gabby. I shouldn't have."

"Damn straight you shouldn't have. Go home. I don't trust you to be sober right now. Quade, cover his shift and don't bitch. You and Jaeger… go find something to do. I want to speak to Taylor."

Gabrielle and Jack left the office, glad that the worst they got was Jack having to cover Steve's shift. They didn't know Frank recognized they had an excellent working dynamic, something similar to what Charlotte and Vincent had had, except not as convoluted. Damned if Frank was letting Steve Taylor come between them.

Back in his office, Steve said, "Look, I know I was a prick to her –"

"Damn straight you were. What happened?"

"I got drunk and seeing them together made me jealous. I went over to talk and I kissed her and –"

"Oh, bloody hell, Taylor, don't you know _anything_? The last person you want to piss off when it comes to his girlfriends is Jack Quade. You had your chance, you blew it. Move on. They work together brilliantly, and so help me God, if you have any part in wrecking that, I will not only fire you but I'll make sure no-one in this state will hire you."

"I get it, Frank. No more screwing up."

"You've already screwed up. Go home, get some rest, drink lots of water. And if you think of pulling a stunt like that again, just remember, I need them a hell of a lot more than I need _you_."

Steve slunk off home, tail between his legs. It caused him great pain to see Jack and Gabrielle so happy. But he was beginning to realize he had lost her, he'd deserved to lose her, and if Jack could make her happy…


	7. Chapter 7

_Two weeks later – two months total._

Jack was the ED computer, swinging his leg back and forth under the desk when his foot caught on the cord, yanking it out of the socket and immediately killing the power. Grumbling, he got under the desk to plug it back in.

Through nothing more substantial that good – or bad – timing, at that point, Abigail and Claire – who had become Abigail's doppelganger since they'd been separated – walked by, Abigail talking and Claire listening. "I heard she gave him head in the back of his car. Wouldn't put it past her, you know how some women are when it comes to keeping a surgeon for a boyfriend." Jack had to bite down on his lip for a second to keep from laughing. He had no doubt Abigail would have done the same thing if asked.

He got out from under the desk and relished the look of horrified embarrassment on Abigail's face. "Actually, it was the other way around," he lied cheerfully through his teeth for the sheer pleasure of watching Abigail squirm. "You'd be surprised what I'd do to hold onto a decent girlfriend."

Abigail squirmed. "Isn't that a little too much information?" she asked.

"As opposed to saying the exact same thing behind my back?" he retorted. "If you must gossip, I'd rather you had the fact. So… anything you want to know?"

She looked torn between embarrassment at being caught out and straining at the bit to know more. Finally she blurted out, "Is it true about you and Doctor Henderson?"

"What did she say?" Jack was perfectly aware a crowd was gathering. Good. He was also perfectly aware that Jillian said to anyone who would listen that there was no way someone as plain and boring as Gabrielle could hold his attention, kept alluding to their brief fling like she had been the greatest thing in his life. It was undermining the public image of his relationship with Gabrielle, and if Abigail's curiosity was going to give him the opportunity to set the record straight at Jillian's expense, so be it. Gabrielle may not be his girlfriend, but she was a close friend and he didn't like seeing his close friends put through the wringer by jealous bitches.

"She said you guys were seeing each other but it didn't work out 'cos you never made the time."

Jack laughed. "OK, firstly, I was screwing her, not seeing her." The distinction was obvious to anyone. "Secondly, I am perfectly capable of making time if I care about a woman. Just ask Zoe how I've bugged her endlessly to be on weekday shifts with Gabby. Thirdly, _I_ stopped seeing _her_."

"Why?"

"She was insanely demanding." Jack managed to attached enough sexual innuendo to the words 'insanely demanding' that left no doubt in anyone's minds what he was referring to.

"Why were you seeing her in the first place then?"

_Aren't you a nosy little cow_, Jack thought, although he had to concede he'd volunteered the information. "Because I was going through some crap and I had a bad habit of doing stupid things when I had to deal with crap. But I have a few good influences in my life now," he conceded with a smile that made Abigail green with envy. Jack knew she'd bet on herself.

"…Did you have to do that?" Gabrielle asked the next day, although she couldn't help smiling as she asked him.. "You humiliated her. You trashed Jillian's reputation."

"She was trashing yours. She deserved it." Double standards being what they were, it hadn't been hard to turn Jillian's words against her. Within a day, word was going around that Jillian Henderson couldn't even claim the dignity of being dumped by Jack Quade because he hadn't bothered to dated her, just screw her, and even that hadn't held his interest for long. Women could be catty about one another, and Jack had banked on that when he'd told Abigail what he had. He felt bad about using Abigail like that but he was willing to do what it took to protect Gabrielle.

"That was sweet, I guess," she said. It was odd that she found it endearing when someone was willing to spread gossip to preserve her reputation, but she did. "But I wish you wouldn't be so…mean."

"People are mean. But if it means that much to you…" he leant in to kiss her.

"Did she really go green when you made up that crap about the head job?" she asked.

"She looked like she couldn't decide to be sick or envious," Jack said. He loved watching Gabrielle smile. He knew she got off on people being envious about her, regardless of what she said to the contrary. Maybe it was childish, but it could be very satisfying to stick it to people. And he liked making her smile, even if it was over childish things.

"We still good for the ball?" he asked. The annual hospital ball was this Saturday night and the plan was for them to go together. He'd talked her into wearing something she wouldn't normally wear – something very sexy. He wanted to show her off.

She nodded. She was oddly apprehensive about this ball. They were long accepted as a couple but weren't seen out much with colleagues other than postwork drinks at Cougars. Going to an official hospital event was a massive step for them. It would be weird enough if they were an actual couple, but given the pretense –

He sensed her apprehension and drew her close to him. They kissed for a couple of minutes until they were interrupted by cat-calls and he settled for hugging her instead.

--

"Oh, my God, if I thought it would work, I'd go back to being a lesbian."

"Huh?" Dan looked up from his place at their table at the annual hospital ball to see Jack and Gabrielle enter. They looked stunning together. She was wearing the kind of dress no-one would ever have expected her to wear, a dark blue evening gown cut low in the back and showing off plenty of cleavage. Her hair was piled up with tendrils artfully slipping down and she wore what looked like a pearl pendant around her neck.

She looked stunning. It wasn't just that the dress perfectly suited her figure and colouring, which it did. She _radiated_. She was a confident, sexy woman, miles from the woman they worked with.

She was a woman in love.

She just wasn't getting that love in return.

That she and Jack weren't actually together had been exquisitely pulled off. It didn't hurt that affection for one another came easy, that in different circumstances they would have been affectionate friends. They routinely whiled away nights with drinks and DVDs, they were highly compatible with a great camaraderie.

But he never touched her beyond the boundaries he had set early on. He might slip his hands inside her shirt, but he never tried to unbutton it, never groped her the way she craved him to.

She tried to accept that Jack just wasn't ready, tried to tell herself that they wouldn't be happy together if he wasn't ready, but it was so hard when his kisses made her so hot and breathless…

She felt so strange in this dress. Jack had urged her to wear something a little more daring than she planned to. He liked her in sexy clothes, even if he never took them off. And he liked the way she seemed more confident when she dressed more provocatively. He knew she never would have dared it without him by her side, and he was trying to encourage her out of her country girl shell.

That, and he enjoyed being envied by his peers. It was selfish, it was self-absorbed, he knew that, but he knew they made an attractive couple and he liked showing her off. All Jack knew was that he was having a lot of fun with her. He had certainly looked forward to the annual ball more than he had in the past (he found the events insansely boring) because he'd have her by his side.

And she looked gorgeous tonight. He had helped her choose the dress. She'd hemmed and hawed over it, but he knew he'd been right. The dress looked sensation on her. And the pearl pendant he'd bought her for her recent birthday offset the dress and her skin perfectly.

He smiled when he saw Charlotte looking in their direction. He knew it wasn't him she was looking at. And who could blame her? His opinion was that Charlotte was bisexual and Gabrielle was certainly worth perving on.

He was well aware that many men were watching him enviously. No-one had seen this side of her before, so sexy, so confidant…

"Matt Steel's been coming onto me all night," Gabrielle said, giddy from a combination of wine and compliments. "I told him you don't take it well when other men hit on your girl."

Jack laughed and held her close, his hands on her bare back. She felt so good in his arms, her body just fit into his. "I'll break his nose if you want me to," he offered gaily. "Just think about all the men who'll be lining up to date you after this is over."

She snuggled into his arms. She didn't want it to be over. She wanted Jack to look at her in the same way other men were looking at her tonight. "Believe me now that plenty of men think you're sexy?" he whispered teasingly in her ear.

She looked up at him. "Do you find me sexy, Jack?" she asked.

He kissed her. He was a little bit drunk and a little bit reckless. "Course I do," he said. To anyone watching her, they appeared to be an attractive, affectionate, romantic, sexy couple.

--

"God, I'm glad that's over," Jack said as they got in the front door of Gabrielle's house. "Hate those things."

"There wasn't a small bright spark in the night?" Gabrielle asked teasingly. She did nothing to stop him when he pushed her against the wall and started nuzzling her neck.

"There may have been a few moments," he said huskily. He picked her up easily and carried her into her bedroom. Holding her closely on the dance floor, that warm body that he'd come to know so well, had been an intense experience… so sexy. "You're sexy," he whispered in that same husky voice as he carried her to her room.

_You're drunk_, she wanted to say, although not nearly as drunk as had been routine for Steve (at least he was coordinated enough to carry her in a straight line). But she didn't say it. This was the furtherest she'd gotten Jack in terms of pushing sexual boundaries and at this point in time, she was so hot for him, her heart so full of longing for him, that she'd take drunk Jack if that's what it took to get him over this boundary he'd created for himself.

He'd barely been able to keep his hands off her all night – at least, the way he _wanted_ to have his hands all over her, which would have gotten them thrown out of the ball. He laid her gently down on the bed and climbed on top of her, tangling his legs with hers, kissing her passionately, hands roaming freely. Her hands roamed his body back, and she led her legs around his waist, letting her dress slide up her legs until it was pooled around her waist. "Oh, God, yes…" she cried out as Jack pressed his body tightly against hers, forcing her deeply into the mattress…

Jack rolled off quickly, sitting up and tucking his legs against his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "Shit, I'm so sorry," he mumbled, and Gabrielle realized what had happened.

She touched his shoulder and he flinched. "Jack, it's OK. It's perfectly natural."

He couldn't believe he'd let things go so far. "I have to go home," he mumbled thickly.

"Jack, please…" Gabrielle felt her voice cracking with heartbreak. "I want you to stay."

"I can't. Don't push it." He bolted out of the room and out of the house before she could say anything else, sitting in his car until the taxi arrived. It was clear he didn't want to be around her.

Gabrielle sat on her bed, scarcely believing what had happened. She _knew_ Jack was attracted to her, _knew_ he wanted her and yet… he'd run off the second he'd become aroused.

He came over early the next day. She had no idea he'd been up most of the night, struggling with his feelings for her. He couldn't deny that he was hot for her, but to get involved with her for real, he had nothing to offer her other than a lot of demons and sexual hang-ups.

He'd offended girlfriends when he'd refused to kiss them after giving him a blow job. He'd retreated into dark spaces in his mind when they'd hug him from behind, dark spaces he couldn't be coaxed out of. That Gabrielle could coax him out of those spaces was beyond him; he just knew he had fun with her. But he couldn't get involved with her.

"I'm so sorry about last night. I was drunk and you looked so sexy and I got carried away… I'm sorry."

She touched his face gently. He looked so contrite, so remorseful. "Tell me one thing. Honestly."

"What?"

"It was me… I mean, it wasn't just that you were drunk and I was there in a sexy dress…" she trailed off, because she knew how gutted Rachel had been when she'd realized it hadn't been about her, just a convenient female body…

Jack looked shocked, so shocked he didn't need to reply; that he was attracted to her (and no-one else) was obvious. "Of course it was about you. I just… wish I hadn't taken it that far."

"Jack, you didn't even take it that far." The fact it had been about her meant more than she had expected it to. She hadn't realized until just then how much it meant that he be thinking of only her when he was with her. "I remember a time when you needed to get drunk just to go through with it… it was noble, to stop like that." She was just about choking on her words. She had wanted him badly last night, still wanted him, but said what he wanted to hear – needed to hear to forgive himself for a drunk indiscretion.

"Yeah?" The relief in his voice was obvious. He'd worried she'd be disgusted with him. He'd created a boundary so this kind of thing wouldn't happen and then he'd gone a proved that he was still perfectly capable of… stupid drunk indiscretions.

"Yeah." She hugged him, and she could feel the tension drained from his body to know he was 'forgiven'. "You're attracted to me, I think, given the time we spent together, I'd think something was wrong with me if you _did_n't feel that way sometimes."

Ha, she thought he didn't feel that way? She was sexy as hell and being so close to her, he was surprised it didn't happen more often. "Just don't wrap your legs around me like that again," he said with a weak smile. "It's incredibly… stimulating."

She wondered how much she had to stimulate him before she pushed him over the edge. She wondered if there was such a thing, and if he'd hate her for doing that to him.

Damn him, he was impossible.

"Deal," she said. "Look, I'm sorry to do this to you, but I'm seeing friends today so…"

"Yeah, I'll get out of your hair," he said. He hugged her again. "Thanks for being so understanding."

When he was gone, she went to her room, curled up in bed and sobbed. There was no way she could get Jack to admit how he felt about her. Even if he liked her, even if he was attracted to her, he wouldn't do anything about it. He was too determined to keep himself isolated to realized what they had. If he ran off when he got a hard-on rather than do the obvious, there was no way she could convince him it was time to let go of his demons and embrace a proper relationship.

It was over. She had lost.


	8. Chapter 8

"So that's it."

"Yeah, I think that's it." Gabrielle and Jack had split the money – all in cash! – five grand each. It was strange to think it was all over. They had spent so much time together the last three months, kissed so many times… "I'm going to miss you," she said. Despite the distance he had created between them in private since their steamy makeout session after the ball, she had still cherished every moment together. Accepting that it was never going to happen between them, she clung onto every second, knowing it was going to end…

"I'm going to miss you, too," he said. The truth was, he would. He couldn't _not_ miss her, he couldn't _not_ enjoy the time they'd spent together. He'd been a little skittish around her since the ball, but he still cared a great deal for her. She was still his best friend, he still loved hugging her, kissing her… "We can still be affectionate, can't we?" he asked hopefully.

She couldn't deny him that. "I think we have to go through the breakup period. But after that…"

They had planned on a breakup following their 'anniversary' so people would know they had broken up on receiving the money – which Dan had grudgingly handed over. "Look, we've got this time off, do you want to go to the beach? I've been meaning to teach you how to swim for a while."

"Told you, I can't swim."

"Swimming's easy enough. It's a beautiful, calm day, and you know I'll be there with you. You're my best friend. Don't you trust me?"

Of course she trusted him. So an hour and a half later they were at 'his' beach and he was coaxing her out to where they couldn't stand. "C'mon, sweetheart, do what I told you. Tread water."

How could she resist him when he called her 'sweetheart'? She got out to where she couldn't stand and started treading water – and found she was floating. She screamed in delight. "Ohmigod, I'm swimming!" she squealed. "Jack, I'm swimming!"

"I'm watching," he said. "Keep going."

She soon got the hang of it, and soon she was dog paddling in the ocean. She felt so liberated. She felt like she hadn't learnt something so monomentous since reading.

Jack moved further and further away from her, encouraging her to swim towards him, to go underwater for a few seconds. He laughed at her awkward efforts while encouraging her to swim towards him, encouraged her to discover strengths she didn't know she had…

She felt a jolt of pain run through her right leg like a lightning bolt. She gritted her teeth and willed it to pass, determined that it wouldn't interrupt a terrific moment. But the pain continued and coursed through her body until her attempts to keep treading water failed and she went under.

Jack had been watching her, and when she'd been under for ten seconds, he went after her. For a few seconds, he panicked blindly, thinking about how much she meant to him and how much he stood to lose it he lost her. Then his instincts kicked in, and he went after where she'd last been. He searched under the water for her, and in less than half a minute after she'd gone under, he'd located her and brought her up to the surface. He had one arm strapped across her chest, pinning down her arms so she wouldn't struggle. "Baby, it's Jack," he said. "You're safe, I'm taking you to shore, if I let go of your hands, can you help get us there?" She gasped a 'yes'. She let go and she started weaving her hands through the water like Jack had taught her, and it helped him get them to shore.

On the beach, she spit out water and cried. He held her tightly. "What happened?" he asked.

"I got a cramp in my leg," she admitted. "I didn't want to ruin the moment, I thought it would pass so I didn't say anything…"

He'd been sick with worry, sick with dread, and it had all been over a leg cramp she hadn't been able to admit to? In his fury over his blind panic being for something so avoidable, he slapped her hard across the face. "You stupid, stupid girl!" he screamed at her. "You could have drowned! You – stupid – girl! My God, don't you know how much I love you?"

And with that, he smashed his mouth against hers. This wasn't like any of their previous kisses. This was hard and demanding, like he'd devour her if he could. He was giving her his soul, and demanding hers in return. He pushed her into the wet sand and ran his hands over her body with liberty that made her gasp with delight. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Jack, yes," she gasped as Jack ran his mouth across her face and neck, down to her chest… he yanked her bikini top down to reveal her breasts and she didn't care. This was what she'd been wanting for three months, and it was more than she'd dreamed over. "Baby, baby…"

His fingers fumbled with the tie on one side of her bikini bottoms until he had it free – and free access to her most private parts. She gasped and moaned as Jack touched her in a way Steve never had. He knew it was Gabrielle's first orgasm, and he took his time with her until her screams were lost on the isolated beach. "Jack, please," she begged. "I want to have sex with you. I've wanted to have sex with you since you first kissed me."

It was what he needed to hear. He needed to know that it was consensual, that she wanted it as much as he did. He pulled down his board shorts to reveal an impressive erection and plunged into her, burying himself inside her.

She gasped and buried her face in his neck. He had to be at least twice Steve's size and he was opening her up, and it was uncomfortable… she gritted her teeth momentarily, determined that Jack not know he was making her uncomfortable. If he did, he'd stop immediately and, more likely than not, never try again. She was determined Jack not be discouraged by their first attempt at lovemaking.

After thirty seconds or so, the discomfort passed and Gabrielle felt herself starting to climax again. She dug her nails into his neck and convulsed against him in her second orgasm.

After she was done, Jack kept going, his sobs getting caught up in his groans and cries of 'I love you' until all three sounds melded together and he came inside her. She instinctively locked her legs around him until he was done and he collapsed on top of her, breathing in sand, his body wracked with sobs.

She held him. It was scarcely within her belief in herself or their relationship, but she knew Jack's sobs came from a sense of being safe and loved, which was an incredibly rare commodity for a man like Jack.

She ran her hands up and down his back. "Baby?" she asked tentatively. "I'll hold you as long as you like but we should get our clothes back on." It was an isolated beach – she'd never seen anyone else here in all the times they'd come down – but she still didn't want to get caught almost completely naked.

They retrieved their clothes and dressed and Gabrielle was as good as her word, lying in the sand with Jack, holding him tightly until he'd stopped crying and shaking. It wasn't like he was fit to drive home yet, anyway, so they might as well enjoy post-coital bliss.

She smiled to herself. _Post-coital bliss_. Such a strange way of putting it given their lovemaking had been a frenzied, frantic encounter on the beach. But that's what it had been. They'd made love, and the experience for him had been so exhilarating he could barely stand. Not that she was completely with it, either. Endorphins had flooded her brain and she felt a wild, tingling sensation all over. She was euphoric. She'd known it would be great with Jack, but this – even with the initial discomfort it had been way beyond her wildest dreams.

After half an hour Jack had calmed down enough that he could drive. She leaned into him as they walked back to the beach and he wrapped an arm around her. She sensed an aloofness in him which she couldn't fathom, but let it go for the time being.

--

Jack had been quiet and unapproachable since they'd driven home. At first, Gabrielle had taken it as a symptom of the intensity of his orgasm, but now it was just… creepy. He flat-out rejected her suggestion that he join her in the shower and since his own shower had been curled up on the couch, not saying anything.

She hugged him and playfully kissed a line along the back of his neck, and he tensed up. It was all she could take. "Do you regret it?" she asked.

"Of course I regret it," he snapped, and her heart plummeted. "I'm disgusted with myself. Jesus Christ, Gabby, do you know how many times I've thought about – about – having you? None of them consisted of mounting you on the beach like some randy dog."

The self-loathing was evident in his voice, and Gabrielle found herself sighing with relief. Not that he loathed himself, but – "Jack, it's OK. I wanted it as much as you did. We both got caught up in the moment – you think my thoughts of our first time making love consisted of doing it on the beach?"

He relaxed a little in her embrace. "I felt you stiffen up," he admitted. "I knew I was hurting you, I just didn't care."

"You knew it was a bit uncomfortable," she corrected. "And if you'd thought about it seriously before, you always knew it was going to be a bit uncomfortable for me. But you know what? You made sure I wanted it, you made sure I was wet enough, what else is it going to take? Baby, please don't beat yourself up over this." She started kissing the back of his neck again. "You meant it when you said you loved me, didn't you?"

"Of course I did."

"Well… I love you, too. So why don't you tell me about these… thoughts you had about our first time together," she suggested playfully. She started massaging his shoulders lightly. She had long ago learned that Jack craved touch and affection, and it did its trick now.

"Something about taking you out to dinner… a moonlit walk on the beach… it's always a full moon, in my head… then to a classy hotel where I give you plenty of orgasms before I have you… before we have each other."

She cuddled him from behind. "You want to do that now?" she asked.

He smiled ruefully. "Gabby, I can't keep my hands off you to get through dinner, let alone anything else," he admitted.

She kissed him harder on the neck, beginning a hickey. "Good, I was hoping you'd say that. Now, are you man enough to scoop me up and carry me to my room, or do I have to lead the way?"

Obligingly, Jack scooped her into his arms, picked her up and carried her into her room. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. She felt a shiver of anticipation as he laid her down gently on her back and lay on his side next to her, propping himself up on one elbow, using his free hand to stroke her bare skin casually. Even though she and Jack had already had sex, it felt like it was their first time together. More than that – they'd both been burned before, had healed somewhat through their close friendship, and it was like a second chance for both of them.

"Jack, I'm not too good at this," she admitted. "I don't think Steve was too good at it and he was all I knew. I – I need you to be patient with me, like you were when you first kissed me."

He laughed softly and trailed kisses along her face. Like he cared that she had a few bad habits. Teaching her was going to be fun.

She was wearing a pale blue satin dressing gown. He tugged at the sash which held the it together, and it fell apart, revealing a darker blue sating nightie with a black lace trim underneath – she must have dug around in her wardrobe for it. Or maybe she'd been hoping for a while that she'd soon have the opportunity to use it. "You're insanely gorgeous," he murmured, kissing along her neck and collarbone and down to where the soft material started to cover up her smooth skin. It was quite low cut – negligee, not sleepwear – and he had access to a fair amount of swelling breast before the material started.

His body language made it pretty clear that she didn't need to do anything but passively enjoy it, so that's what Gabrielle did. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers along the back of his neck as he continued kissing every inch of exposed skin, taking his time. His hands moved down her body to where the nightie ended at her thighs and then upwards again, caressing her skin, moving slowly upwards. By the time his hands were cupping her breasts, she was bucking against him and groaning softly. He kneaded them gently, ran his fingers over her nipples until he felt them harden. "Jack!" she gasped. "Oh, God…"

He lifted the nightie up over her head so she was naked of all but a skimpy g-string. He ran kisses along the top of her body, ran his hands over her body with familiarity. His hands and mouth explored her both thoroughly so by the time he got down to her abdomen she was writhing and whimpering – and feeling very loved and special.

"I've been wanting to go down on you since you told me Steve never did," he admitted huskily. He hooked his fingers under the skimpy material and pulled it down her legs, discarding it on the floor so she was completely naked. He was feeling a little overdressed my comparison but that would be rectified later.

Gabrielle gasped when Jack bent his head down and started kissing her there. She'd been told it was a great feeling, to have a man go down on you, but this was something she couldn't have imagined… "Jack!" she gasped when he started using his fingers, probing her, savoring her. "Oh, God…"

For nearly an hour he had her thrashing around in bed, completely at his mercy – not that she wanted him to stop. She was sobbing when she climaxed for the fifth time that day. "Jack, please…"

He entered her slowly, much slower than he had the first time, filling her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and moved with him as he started pumping her. They moved together as one, thrashing about. Gabrielle had known Steve wasn't the greatest lover in the world, but she had never expected sex to be so incredible…

Jack felt like the rest of the world had melted away and it was just him and Gabrielle joined together in the most intense moment of rapture… when it was over, he buried his head in her shoulder and felt the urge to cry again. Gabrielle held him, one arm around his back, the other hand at the back of his head and neck, while he composed himself.

"Sorry," he said when he felt he could speak. "I've never been sooky like this."

She kissed him. "It's fine," she said, her eyes shining with love. "You do whatever you need to." She didn't say, didn't have the words to say how much it meant to her that Jack felt he could let go like that. If sex with her was such an intense experience for him that he felt the need to cry afterwards, she wasn't going to stop him.

For the rest of the day they did nothing much, pottered around the house, enjoyed dinner together, had a lot of sex. In fact, that was how they passed all their days off. Neither had ever been happier.

"Do you think they'll be able to tell?" Gabrielle asked, referring to their colleagues when they returned to work the next day.

"What, that we're blissfully in love… and weren't a few days ago?" he asked. She nodded. "Probably. But I doubt anyone will make the connection."

"I feel strange, the idea of going to work tomorrow… I mean, I know people think we're together but it feels like…"

"Like we just got together and now we're outing ourselves?" Jack asked. Gabrielle nodded. "I know. But you know what? I'm kind of looking forward to it. It's been so long since I felt good about myself and the relationship I was in."

She squeezed his hand and they kissed. She never would seen herself with a man like Jack, yet here they were, and things felt perfect. She felt like the happiest woman alive.

Their kisses quickly turned into a makeout session. He lost himself in her kisses, her embrace, feeling like no man had ever felt this happy, this safe, this loved.

Later, he said, "I've been meaning to say – I hate this house. It's dark and depressing."

"Jack, I am not staying at yours. You know how I feel about that."

"Sorry, I should have explained earlier. When my mum died, Bec and I inherited her place in Bondi. She wanted her own apartment in the city, so I bought her out and I've been renting it ever since 'cos it was cheaper to do that and live somewhere less expensive when I didn't care much where I lived. But now… the lease is up in a few weeks and it's a gorgeous place."

He was fumbling over his words, the way he did when he was nervous and afraid of being turned down. She found it endearing. "You're asking me to move in with you?"

"Yeah. You should see this place, Gabby, it's much nicer than here. You can rent this place out and you don't have to worry about paying me rent, I don't owe much on it and damned if I'm charging my partner when I don't need the money."

She looked at Jack adoringly. He was quite serious – about her moving in with him, about not accepting rent from her. And come to think of it, this place _was_ really dreary… "Of course I'll move in with you," she said. "I love you, Jack."

"I love you, too," he said.

He loved her. He had never loved anyone like this, never felt safe with someone like this. He could scarcely believe his luck, finding love like this, with someone who had been right under his nose.

And all because of a stupid bet.


End file.
